The career arc for Malvern Prep’s Michael Beard has been a steep one, so far.
As a freshman, Beard finished runner-up at prep states and prep nationals. The natural progression, as a sophomore, would be to win one or both of the prep postseason tournaments.
Beard did just that, defeating Wyoming Seminary’s Christian Dietrich in the finals of states and nationals. That not only earned him the Daily Local News Wrestler of the Year, but now poses the question — what next?
“It’s nice because I worked hard all year for it,” Beard said. “It was my biggest goal, and to be so close last year, I really wanted to get on top.”
“My next goal is to just keep winning. I want to win the Ironman, Beast of the East and Escape the Rock (tournaments) and go undefeated.”
Hefty aspirations, but rightly so for a wrestler that is ranked No. 9 in the country at 182 pounds on intermatwrestle.com, with seven seniors ahead of him.
Beard went 55-3 this season, with two of his losses to senior Nick Reenan of Sem, who’s heading to Northwestern and the other to Pennridge’s Kyle Gentile, who’s Lehigh bound.
When Reenan bumped up to 195 in the postseason, Beard pounced on the opportunity.
“I knew what he was capable, in terms of talent this year,” Malvern coach Nate Lautar said. “Last year, losing to Reenan, he saw he was right there. It was great to see how he progressed over the season and stepped up in the postseason. He learned from his mistakes from early in the season, and he’s only a sophomore, so he’s trying to get better.”
Beard thought he might get a rematch with Gentile at the Escape the Rock, but the eventual third-place finisher in the PIAA lost before getting to Beard in the finals.
The Friar was still able to showcase his skills, doing so by dominating Boyertown’s Gregg Harvey, a fifth-place finisher at PIAAs, 14-0, in the semifinals. Beard was a hammer on top, notching three sets of near-falls against Harvey in the first period and did the same to Hayfield’s Antonio Agee in the finals for his first major tournament title.
“Our philosophy as a team is we want to score on top,” Lautar said. “It’s a difference maker for a lot of our kids, especially at national preps. It’s offense and we’re looking to score points. When (Beard) gets on top, he gets tilting kids and has fun with it. He likes to see how many tilts he can get and how much he can score in the first period.”
Beard will shift his focus in the offseason to the freestyle side of wrestling, with eyes on the cadet world team. As a benefit of the training, Beard’s repertoire will expand. If his top game is dominant, improvement from neutral will make him even tougher to beat.
“I’m working on my feet,” Beard said. “I want to be new explosive. With the heavier weights, the kids are slower, so I want to be able to use my speed to my advantage.”
Malvern had another national champ, in Seth Janney (220 pounds). Beard was one of the draws for Janney, who was a PIAA runner-up at South Western High last winter before transferring. Janney, a junior, was a pinning machine, and the two have another year left to spar together.
Whatever the ceiling is for the Friars sophomore star, the current status of Beard is already pretty impressive.
And while rankings don’t win any matches, climbing the national polls is certainly on Beard’s mind. Especially with colleges starting to show their interest.
“It motivates me,” Beard said of the rankings. “I know I can be the best and it pushes me in the room to be No. 1.”
