HS Coach: New commit a 'perfect' fit for Penn State wrestling
For the better part of the last two months, Michael Beard and his wrestling coaches at Malvern (Pa.) Prep have been evaluating a list of pros and cons, determining which school would fit best as his ultimate landing spot.
On March 22, Beard announced via Twitter that he'd be opening up his recruitment after a verbal commitment to Northwestern. Since then he's been considering different options, ranging between Penn State, Cornell, Princeton and the Wildcats. Then on Wednesday night he made the final call when FloWrestling.com reported that Beard had chosen the Nittany Lions.
A two-time national prep school champion, Beard is a Top 10 overall recruit in the Class of 2018. Flo ranks Beard No. 2 at 195 pounds behind a senior Jacob Warner, who is set to enroll at Iowa this summer.
His head coach Nathan Lautar describes Beard as "a gym rat," who not only stays late after his own practice but sticks around for youth club sessions afterward. He also studies the sport closely and is always aiming to evolve his game. With that already as his daily approach, Lautar believes Beard will jell nicely within the Nittany Lion wrestling program.
"The things that (head coach Cael Sanderson) says he's looking for were, to me, perfect fits for Michael," Lautar said. "Michael loves wrestling. Michael is a student. He watches film. He's on FloWreslting. He's on different websites to watch wrestling. He's really into it."
His studiousness away from the mat has led to world-class results on it. As an outcome, Beard has been one of the more highly sought-after wrestlers throughout the country since late March.
About one week after Beard announced his de-commitment from Northwestern, opting out due to location and making a decision too early in the process, Malvern Prep hosted Sanderson in its wrestling room.
Lautar didn't even know Sanderson planned to make the trip. He was helping to load wrestling mats into the back of the truck when the Nittany Lion head coach walked into the building.
"I look over to Mike (who is wrestling) on the mat, as a I have a mat in my hand, and Mike's jaw just drops to the floor," Lautar recalled. "You could see on his face how he excited he got."
Due to NCAA regulations, Sanderson was unable to communicate with Beard during the visit but his presence left an impression. Although Beard considered Cornell, Princeton and Northwestern a second time, Penn State was going to be hard to beat after that, if it didn't hold an upper edge already.
Not only is it close to his hometown of Pottstown, his older brother Billy also attends PSU. He is just finishing his freshman year on the swim team.
"It's been a dream of his to go to Penn State," Lautar said. "As a little kid we used to talk about it when he was wrestling all the time. It was to wrestle for Penn State and Cael Sanderson. Part of him when he chose Northwestern, he was looking at everything – looking at the academics at Northwestern and the coaching staff that Northwestern has. At the time it seemed like a perfect for him. Coming from a prep school like ours at Malvern it was a great segue for him. I think it was just a little far from home for him. I think staying at Penn State is more local, plus he has his brother there at school."
Beard's commitment only adds to a stockpile of talent building among Penn State's Class of 2018. He joins five other verbal commitments In addition to Beard, PSU is poised to sign Joe Lee of Indiana (157-174); Travis Wittlake of Oregon (174/184); Roman Bravo-Young of Arizona (133/141); Gavin Teasdale of Pennsylvania (125-141); and Seth Nevills of California (285). In addition to Beard, Wittlake, Bravo-Young, Teasdale and Nevills are ranked among the top three spots at their respective weight class nationally.
With a host of the country's best high school wrestlers joining Beard at Penn State, winner of six of the last seven NCAA championships, Lautar said that also factored into Beard's decision.
"That's a big appeal to Mike," he said. "He wants to be part of that winning atmosphere and be on a team that's a contender right away. I think that's going to elevate his game. When you have all those guys on a team it's going to elevate his performance. "