That Luke Malveaux ‘23 was born in the sweltering confines of a wrestling room is an unsubstantiated urban legend.

Yet, with each phenomenal performance throughout a scintillating senior season that capped perhaps the most imposing career in St. Thomas history, the theory that he learned snap-downs and double legs in the same days he stumbled through his first steps and uttered his first words became less far-fetched to believe.

The Malveaux Mojo was defined in suffocating competitions with beads of sweat bubbling above his brow and slaloming down his cheeks, lifting opponents in the air and slamming them to the mats, making way to take the top step on the podium. In every drill of every practice, he refused to surrender. That was the work ethic that fueled his ascent.

Malveaux blended raw strength with quickness and agility uncommon for his 190-pound weight class. He was that lethal combination of ferocity, toughness, and technique.

If Malveaux’s internal voice were available through Bluetooth-connected speakers, it would reverberate as such: The way to win is to dominate. If you don’t, you’re vulnerable and not realizing your potential. If you can beat somebody 30-0, why coast to victory? Score, score, score. If that means humiliating a guy, that’s tough. That’s also wrestling. And if you let up, you’ll get pinned.

After entering St. Thomas as an innocent-appearing, boyish freshman, Malveaux’s features became more deeply chiseled, bespeaking the punishment he inflicted upon himself, pushing body and will to exhausting limits in daily preparation. Often his face contorted with exertion or pain – from grueling conditioning and all-consuming fatigue, from forcing himself through one drill after another, and then, when he was so limp that his eyes were glazed, pushing himself even harder.

Malveaux wasn’t spawned from some mythical-like force – nothing resembling the wingspan of a Cthulhu, the power of a Minotaur, the snarl of a Werewolf – even though his results defied belief.
He bulldozed through state and regional tournaments, elite and overmatched adversaries alike, to achieve 2023 All-American acclaim. He mined gold medals. He delivered precisely on his own outsized expectations, all while putting on a show.

In gyms filled with immense necks, massive shoulders, and columnar thighs, Malveaux was a menacing presencing demanding separation from the pack. He repeated as the Houston Chronicle’s top private school wrestler after a spellbinding, star-making run. As a senior, Malveaux muscled to a sublime 50-1 record, punctuated by a second consecutive TAPPS state championship secured on his home mat in Reckling Gymnasium. He captured the 190-pound title by technical fall, decimating his opponent for a 17-2 victory and earning Upper Weight Wrestler of the Meet.

Previously, Malveaux earned the outstanding performer at the Texas Prep State championships where he racked a stunning 31 and a half points in one of the deepest and strongest brackets of the season. He followed with an All-American showing at the National Prep Championships in Maryland, winning five of his six matches before ultimately placing sixth.

Malveaux’s better-than-fiction individual brilliance was often a power elite tag-team throughout 2023 with Sam Cordova ‘23. The 160-pound gold medal winner at Prep State and TAPPS State extended his marvelous mark to 47-10 into National Prep. The two thrived not only in the most thankless sport but also the most intense. Both closely connected their skill and intensity with devotion and determination, finely tuned by fifth-year mastermind head coach Michael LeHolm. The two used their wrestling careers as avenues to further build legacies that they worked so diligently to create.

Eagle Fight Never Dies!