Sparring Siblings
BUTLER TWP — Tanner Kotch has always followed the footsteps of his older brother.
Tyler Kotch went to Butler High School and emerged as a standout for the Golden Tornado lacrosse team. Three years later, Tanner walked the same halls and developed into a star in the same sport.
When deciding where to play lacrosse in college, the footsteps of Tyler — a two-time all-conference midfielder heading into his senior year at Lenoir-Rhyne University — were there to follow once again.
“I fell in love with the area from going down on trips and watching my brother play,” Tanner explained. “I knew I wanted to go to that area.”
Tanner narrowed it down between joining his brother at Lenoir-Rhyne or going to rival Wingate University.
After much consideration, Tanner decided it was time to step out of Tyler's shadow.
“I thought about it and I wanted to go on my own path instead of following my brother, like I have my whole life going through lacrosse and school,” Tanner explained. “I wanted to do my own thing and when I went to Wingate, I just fell in love with it. I thought it was a perfect fit.”
Kotch is part of a large recruiting class and is one of four incoming attackmen trying to earn one starting spot. If he can find his way on the field, Tyler is chomping at the bit to greet him.
“Tanner seems to get under people's skin a lot. He obviously made a trip down to my school. He's gotten under the skin of some of my teammates, also. We're kind of head hunting for him and that's going to be a big thing, especially after the Wingate coach discussed with us after the game that we beat them this year how he was going to give us a run for our money next year. I guess we'll see how that goes. It's definitely a big rivalry.
“I've already told my coach, 'You're going to give me the go to slide across the field and whack him a couple times, won't you?' He said, 'Yeah, I sure will.'”
The Lenoir-Rhyne senior tied for the team lead with 27 goals last year and his 11 assists ranked third. Tanner is looking forward to the challenge.“He's been the leading scorer for the midfield the past couple of years,” He's a sniper; he has a good shot on the run,” the younger Kotch explained. “I'm excited to see him play against our team.”Tyler also complimented Tanner's ability — in a way only a big brother could.“I think he's a little sneaky rat if you ask me,” Tyler said laughing. “He likes to sneak behind the net. ... My roommate is about 6-foot-8. Hopefully, he's going to tower over Tanner and beat him up a little bit.“Tanner is definitely very shifty and very good at being sneaky and I think that's perfectly played for his position,” he added. “Hopefully, he doesn't get too sneaky.”Although Tanner has yet to slip on a Wingate uniform, the incoming freshman has already played a role in the rivalry by denying Lenoir-Rhyne a piece of history.“If Tanner would have came to my school, we would have had seven (sets of) brothers on our team and that would have been a record for the NCAA, so we were all looking forward to Tanner coming over here,” the elder Kotch explained.Tyler conceded his younger sibling will likely benefit from a chance to play right away at Wingate.“I think he made the right decision on his behalf,” he said.Both brothers enjoyed stellar careers during their time at Butler. While the younger Kotch recorded more points, Tyler helped the Tornado to a WPIAL championship in 2010.“The attack position is supposed to have more points, so I don't really count that,” said Tyler. “I always jab at him, 'Where's your title at, brother?'”There isn't much Tanner can say to that.“I'll give it to him for now,” he admitted. “I told him to wait until college, though.”When game day finally arrives for Lenoir-Rhyne and Wingate, the Kotch brothers will know what to do.But the rest of the family? Not so much.“Being a competitive family, it's going to be kind of weird because we're going to have to root for both,” said their father, Richard Kotch. “That's going to be quite interesting.”The result of the game will carry the weight of a lifetime.“There's always bragging rights whenever it comes to me and my brother,” the elder Kotch explained. “I'm sure whenever Lenoir-Rhyne beats Wingate next year, I'll get some more bragging rights to throw at him.”Tanner knows exactly what kind of leverage is riding on a victory.“Oh ... that would mean everything,” said the younger Kotch. “It's pretty much one shot because he'll be a senior and I'll be a freshman so after that, he's gone.“The holidays, all the family meetings, I'll always have it on him ... or he'll always have it on me.”
