Malvern athletics have dominated their opponents in every season and one of the most standout contributions to this powerhouse year was no other than our #1 nationally ranked wrestling team, who had 6 National Prep champions and 12 All-Americans overall.

Cole Deery ‘22, Nick Feldman ‘22, Caden Rogers ‘22, Jack Wehmeyer ‘22, Spencer Barnhart ‘23, and Jack Consiglio ‘24 were the six members of the wrestling team to become National Prep champions in their respective weight classes, which is truly an amazing accomplishment for the program.

“It really feels great to be a National Prep champ because a lot of time and effort was put in and the outcome was even better with being #1,” Deery said.

“It is a very cool feeling to see your hard work finally pay off for the whole team,” Feldman said.

As for any championship match, the stakes are high, but at the most important tournament of the year, the feelings before a match like this are elevated to an entirely new level.

“I felt nervous going into it but I knew I had to be confident in my abilities and relax to wrestle my best match. Also, I had to put it all on the line because this is what I’ve been working towards all season,” Barnhart said. 

“ I felt pretty good. We had like four guys win their championship matches before I did, so I had to keep the ball rolling – I didn’t want to stop the momentum,” Feldman said.

Not only did these champions succeed in their final match, but worked hard throughout the entire tournament by winning several tough matches to get to their end goal. 

“I thought I wrestled a great tournament. My finals match was awesome as the kid was ranked higher than me and I stepped up in a big match,” Deery said.

“I think I wrestled pretty well throughout the days. I definitely could have wrestled a little smarter and more open but overall I think I had a decent tournament,” Barnhart said. 

As Barnhart said, even though he and the others became champions, the mindset of a true winner is always rooted in dissatisfaction and the desire to continue to better themselves, regardless of the accolades. 

“I felt like I could have scored my last takedown better. My last shot was kind of ugly. That was kind of my immediate first thought, but other than that, I was like, alright, time to get back to the room I guess,” Feldman said when asked about his immediate reaction after winning a National Prep title, exemplifying this desire to better one’s self no matter what.

Although there were only 6 champions, the team had 12 All-Americans, continuing to show the elite caliber that every wrestler performs at on Malvern.

“We performed to the max. We put in a lot of time this year and it’s been a long season. Our coach said to go out on top boys. I’m very proud of my teammates,” Deery said. 

Luckily for all of the champions, they still have one or more years to compete again in National Preps, and if these championships have done anything for them, it has influenced them to work even harder to retain their titles.

“This [winning a championship] has motivated me for next season by pushing me to keep on working hard and hopefully win another one.  All I can do is just keep competing and wrestle my best every match,” Barnhart said.

The Malvern Wrestling Team is currently the #1 nationally ranked wrestling team in the country and was honored for their hard work with a small parade in the quad this past week.