When Malvern Students came back on campus, whether it was to lift, for practice, or on the first day, students noticed a change. The weight room and wrestling room had completely switched spaces. While these spaces are only 25 yards apart, the location change came with new benefits for all. Evidently, the wrestlers and athletes who lift were happy. Almost every single sports team utilizes Malvern’s weight room, along with students or faculty who lift weights independently. With all of these students using the weight room, a seamless transition is a necessity.
“I think it’s just like ‘a getting used to it period’ where they used to come into a different building. It’s our same equipment, so that’s all familiar. They just have to get used to going to a different location,” said Miller.
Thankfully, the new weight room space seems more usable than the previous room in terms of a lifting space. Mr. Miller is able to utilize the new floor layout to create a more suitable and safe environment for students.
“I mean, square footage-wise, I think they’re roughly the same, but just the shape of the room is different. It’s a little bit wider, comes along wider. And one thing I’ve noticed just in a little bit of time we’ve been in here is there’s just more open space to do activities and sled pulls and carries and things like that. So that’s been useful, and there’s more room behind the racks against the wall over there; the racks are really close to the wall, so some kind of date, sometimes a dangerous situation. You have a lot of guys kind of crowded behind the rack, in between the wall and the rack, but now plenty of space. So that’s space is great,” Miller said.
On the other hand, Coach Lautar, the Head Varsity Wrestling coach, is extremely excited about the new weight room.
“It’s wonderful. We’re making a ton of progress. It looks great. It’s a facility that fits our program in every need, every aspect, you know, giving a fresh look in a fresh space. It’s wonderful.” Lautar said.
Also, Lucas Zalota ‘26 a varsity wrestler, comments on the new room.
“The new wrestling room is great. It’s a new scene for us, and it’s a little smaller, but the way we’re utilizing it, it’s a lot nicer, and I think it’s going to be more beneficial to us than the old room.” Zalota said.
Previously, the Wrestling room had been on their own island, all while producing top ranked wrestlers and even high national rankings as a program reaching top 10 in the country. Coach Lautar shares how the Wrestling room location change came about.
“They said they wanted to move into a space that would fit our needs, put us more central on campus, so that we weren’t, you know, by ourselves, kind of alienated. What people don’t realize is, like, I went to Malvern, so I graduated in 1998. The space that we’re in –what we just moved into– is actually where I started, where our wrestling program was.” Lautar said.
Along with a new location, the wrestling program got a few new upgrades. These upgrades included new mats and a new locker room. The new mats will allow wrestlers to have less high impact training sessions and mitigate injury. Furthermore, the new locker rooms are a huge upgrade for the wrestling team and the other sports teams that use them when in season.
“We have all the brand new mats we’ve added, like a facility for working out with all, basically new equipment that we’re putting in there. I think one of the great, best features is a much larger locker room to fit our growing team. It gives some more privacy for us, meaning like it’s a more dedicated space for our team that provides them a cleaner, you know, safer environment” Lautar said.
As for the future, the Wrestling program aims to add some flare to the facility to not only excite current wrestlers but bring in new wrestlers to the program. Lautar has many creative ideas including things like the college destinations of Malvern wrestling alumni.
“Yeah, we’re looking to add some artwork. Obviously, like you see around Malvern’s campus, they put a big emphasis on marketing. I think that is the next thing, like we’re looking to add marketing and add that pop and that kind of wow factor when you walk in there,” Lautar said.
As for the weight room, Mr. Miller shares the possibility of improvements in the weight room.
“We’ve had some companies come out and give us drawings of what the space could look like, you know, what that cost might be, what the floor might look like, and stuff. So I just hope we can, at some point over the next couple years, turn one of them into reality,” Miller said.
Finally, Mr. Miller shares that he is optimistic about the new facility even though he has been in the previous weight room for so many years.
“I’ve been over there for 20 years, right? So that place opened up in November of, ‘05. It’s 20 years later, so it’s just a little bit of a switch, yeah, going from that room to this room. But,, it’s great. I think overall it’s going to be, it’s going to be a good thing,” Miller said.
There’s no doubt that the new Wrestling facility will not only highlight the program but also improve the wrestlers’ experience on and off the mats. Lautar ends by thanking the Malvern Wrestling community for making the transition seamless and beneficial.
“I couldn’t do it without the parents. We’ve had a bunch of parents that show up consistently, nonstop, helping cut mats, helping, arrange things, moving between the two buildings, setting up the banners. There’s a lot of work that goes into it. And then, you know, Jeff Kinney and his team and the maintenance crew and facilities have done a great job,” Lautar said.
