Over the past few years since Nate Lautar took over the Malvern Prep wrestling program, the talent has followed.
This past weekend, things came together about as good as possible for the Friars, who competed in the National Prep tournament at Lehigh University.
Eleven Friars qualified for the prestigious tournament and nine walked away with hardware, including two champs, sophomore Mike Beard (182 pounds) and junior Seth Janney (220). Malvern placed third as a team behind powerhouses Blair Academy (NJ) and Wyoming Seminary.
“It’s unbelievable,” Lautar said. “The kids wrestled unbelievable. It was unreal. Friday night I was kind of nervous because we lost a couple quarterfinals that I thought we could win, but Saturday was unbelievable. Our kids were in such good moods and they peaked at the right time. It was the best day of coaching I’ve ever had, just being able to see how much fun they had and how successful they were.”
Freshman Shane Hanson-Ashworth (106) finished runner-up, seniors Nick Lattanze (126), Matt Lattanze (160) and Rushon Lusane (195) took third, sophomore PJ Crane (132) took fourth, freshman Nick Florschutz (170) took seventh and senior Ben Tuohey (145) placed eighth.
Beard finished second his freshman, losing to Seminary’s Nick Reenan in the state and national finals. This year he caught a bit of a break as Reenan bumped up to 195 for another shot at Blair’s Chase Singletary.
Beard, the No. 8 ranked 182-pounder in the country on intermatwrestle.com, capitalized, beating Seminary’s Christian Dietrich, No. 12, two straight weeks, 3-0 in the national finals.
“He’s an unbelievable kid and he’s a mat rat,” Lautar said of Beard. “He’s always in the room and working hard and he’s well-deserving. He’s one of the most naturally-talented kids I’ve ever seen. Keenan bumped up, but we had been game-planning to change some things up against him. It was a little surprising he bumped up, but Dietrich is no slouch either.”
Malvern Prep’s Seth Janney won the 220-pound title. (Nate Heckenberger – For Digital First Media)
Janney was a PIAA runner-up at South Western High last winter before coming east. Now ranked 15th in the country, Janney couldn’t resist the opportunity to train with Malvern’s top-tier upperweights.
“The coaching staff is great and all the people they have in the wrestling room is great,” Janney said. “I felt I could get a lot better and it’s a great team to be on.”
The Lattanze brothers have been a part of Malvern’s rise all four years, while Lusane and Tuohey joined the crew two years ago. Lusane was a state qualifier for Norristown and Tuohey made regionals with Garnet Valley before transferring. The quartet led Malvern to back-to-back Inter-Ac League titles, which were the first in two decades.
“It was nice to see all four of the seniors place,” Lautar said. “Ben Tuohey was probably in the toughest weight in the tournament and to see him finally get on the podium was unreal. The Lattanzes and Ben have been with me since they were seven or eight years old. To watch Nick battle back and beat two kids he lost to the week prior shows his heart. He gutted it out and went all out in his last tournament. I think they sent a statement. We built the foundation of this team around them and they’re the building blocks of what we have now. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending.”
Two freshmen from Coatesville, Henry Hague (113) and Florschutz made their debuts at the national tournament. Hague wrestled up a weight with Hanson-Ashworth at 106, filling in for an injured Mark Salvatore.
Hague reached quarterfinals with a major decision and a pin, but dropped a decision in the blood round.
Florschutz lost in the second round, but won three straight in the consis to clinch a medal.
“One of the most impressive kids was Nick Florschutz,” Lautar said. “He wrestles with Mike Beard and Chris Hisey every day and there’s no way you won’t get better, wrestling those kids.”
Malvern may lose its foundation next year, but there is still abounding talent in the room. And on the way.
