As game grows on him, Latrobe senior becomes top lineman

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Thursday, August 14, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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Football wasn’t for Lucas Kolenc in the beginning.

It was hard. A chore. About as fun as roofing or pouring concrete in extreme heat.

He tried the game as a middle schooler and, by all accounts and with no sugar coating, he hated it.

“I didn’t feel like I belonged,” the bulky senior lineman from Latrobe said. “I tried it, but I quit after a week.”

When his high school years rolled around, former Wildcats coach Ron Prady literally recruited him in the school hallways, asking him to give it another shot.

“I didn’t want to at first,” Kolenc said. “There were days in class when I dreaded going to practice.”

But somewhere during the process — certainly not overnight and with plenty of encouragement — the 6-foot-3, 310-pound Kolenc shed the trepidation and transformed into a football player.

“Yeah, we as coaches were thinking, ‘Maybe this isn’t for him,’” Latrobe first-year head coach Tom McIntyre said of Kolenc’s initial run-in with football. “It seemed so overwhelming. I don’t think he ever played Madden before or ever went to a game. He wrote a college essay about how he never envisioned playing football.

“Little by little, he learned the game and began to like it more.”

The big kid who used to play the tuba in the marching band is now a starting right tackle and left defensive end for the Wildcats, who have played some of their best football in the last few years.

Football world, meet “Big Country.” He enjoys the game more now than a hefty helping of strawberry pretzel salad.

“Bonding with the guys was one of the big things that got me to enjoy it more,” he said. “People told me I should play football because I was big. I love it now.”

Kolenc also is a team captain and long snaps for the Wildcats. Last year, he helped the Wildcats execute a fake punt, snapping to Penn State commit Alex Tatsch, who ran for a touchdown.

Speaking of transforming, Kolenc also wanted to look the part. He grew a beard and let his hair grow. He bulked up, too.

“I needed a new identity,” he said. “People see me and I am not what they expect. I don’t just hunt and fish and stuff like that.

“Being big isn’t super important to me. I want to be a smart player. I want to do my job and do it well.”

Division I and II schools have taken interest in Kolenc, but he is awaiting is first offer. He went to a prospect camp at Holy Cross and has either talked to coaches or heard from Colgate, Cornell, Akron and James Madison, as well as just about every PSAC program.

“A lot of college coaches I talk to say his best days could be ahead of him,” McIntyre said. “The potential is there.”

A spot on a college roster would give Kolence a measure of relief.

“It would mean my parents wouldn’t have to worry about paying for my college,” he said.

Kolenc didn’t play defense last year, so playing both ways will be new.

“Playing both sides will be harder,” he said. “Plus special teams. I am slow right now and I want to get faster.”

Kolenc, who is helping a new line find chemistry, is anxious to see how the Wildcats perform in the post-Alex Tatsch and John Wetzel era.

“Last year, we had some really good dudes,” Kolenc said. “But we have some good dudes back. I think we’re going to surprise some people.”

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.