The Student News Site of Malvern Preparatory School

Friar's Lantern

The Student News Site of Malvern Preparatory School

Friar's Lantern

The Student News Site of Malvern Preparatory School

Friar's Lantern

Malvern Wrestling at its Finest

Malvern Wrestling proved its strength the weekend of February 22-24, with six All-Americans (8th place or higher) at the National Prep Wrestling Championship hosted at Lehigh University. Despite missing two wrestlers due to injury, Malvern placed 5th of the 100+ schools present, a record high for Malvern. After losing the Inter-Ac title to German Academy, in what some call a fixed match, the Malvern wrestling team proved its superiority by placing more wrestlers with higher podium finishes than GA as well as finishing over five places higher than GA in the team standings.

Seniors Greg Bacci, Henry Mauk, Conner Burns placed 4th, 5th, and 8th respectively. Malvern’s wonder junior Jake Anderson won 7th despite being over twenty pounds lighter than his opponents. Freshmen Nick and Matt Lattanze made themselves known to the world of high school wrestling by placing 8th and 4th respectively.

Henry Mauk, MP’13 was looking to go out with a bang after being sidelined for part of the season due to non-Inter-Ac eligibility rules. When asked about nationals he remarked, “As a captain, I was proud to say that I was part of the 2012-2013 wrestling team. Placing 5th as a team, which blew any other inter-Ac team out of the water, was a great way to end the season.”

Matt Ramirez MP’13, who started wrestling as a freshman, fell only a couple matches short of being an All American. Peter Ciesielski MP’15 had a strong showing at Nationals despite being unseeded.

The team was in high spirits after the first day of wrestling and ensuring 6 podium finishers. “I thought everyone wrestled awesome!” commented Matt Lattanze. When looking back on the weekend he noted, “I set high expectations for Nationals. I think it’s cool to go All American as a freshman, but I’m not going to be happy till I’ve got that National Championship.”

Alfredo Giannaccari MP’13, who was a strong contender at the 185lbs weight class, was unable to compete at Lehigh after injuring his knee, but still placed at Prep States the previous weekend. Ryder Harkins MP’14 was in a similar situation after qualifying for Nationals but being unable to wrestle due to a knee injury.

This year was one of Malvern’s strongest wrestling teams ever with six seniors, but there are several outstanding wresters left in the program and many more sure to come in future years. With the support of Friar Nation at next year’s home dual meet against Germantown, Malvern has high hopes for the InterAc Title.

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