This former All-American with a family tradition in wrestling is new St. Thomas coach

Jake Patacsil wouldn’t be surprised if St. Thomas University becomes a national wrestling power in two or three years.

Patacsil — who grew up a short jog away from the Sawgrass Mall in Sunrise and went on to become an All-American wrestler at Purdue University — has been named the first wrestling coach in St. Thomas history.

The 34-year-old will arrive on campus in a couple of weeks.

Before that, he is committed to finishing the current season at the University of Mount Olive, an NCAA Division II program in North Carolina where Patacsil serves as head coach.

“[Patacsil] is a great choice for St. Thomas,” said South Dade’s Victor Balmeceda, who coaches one of the top high school programs in the nation. “He’s a South Florida guy who was highly successful on the Division I level.”

St. Thomas, which competes in NAIA and will start its inaugural season in November, becomes just the third college wrestling program in Florida, joining Southeastern in Lakeland and Keiser (West Palm Beach).

Southeastern started its program in 2015, Keiser is in its first year, and now here comes St. Thomas, hoping to clean up in recruiting with an abundance of athletes to choose from in its home state.

“I think Florida is a top-10 state [in terms of high school talent],” Patacsil said. “Pennsylvania, Ohio, California and Illinois are in that top tier, but Florida is at that next level, depending on the year.”

Patacsil, who hopes to sign 30 to 40 wrestlers for St. Thomas’ first season, said his recruiting base, in order, will be Florida, Ohio and his native Indiana.

“Those Midwest boys eat, breathe and sleep wrestling,” said Patacsil, who was a state champion at St. Thomas Aquinas and went on to finish fifth nationally at 149 pounds in 2009 while at Purdue.

Patacsil, who at the outset will likely have just one graduate assistant, believes he will be able to hire more coaches as his roster grows to 50 to 70 wrestlers in the near future.

The larger roster will provide the competition needed in practice to challenge the starting wrestlers for their spots. That, in turn, Patacsil believes, will make St. Thomas a championship contender in short order.

And, with such little in-state competition, St. Thomas could potentially clean up in recruiting at powerhouse South Florida wrestling programs such as South Dade, Southwest, Monsignor Pace, Cardinal Gibbons, St. Thomas Aquinas and more.

Overall in the state, there are 7,700 high school wrestlers, and Patacsil, who said he prefers to have mostly freshmen on his first roster, will also be looking for talented transfers, especially kids competing at Midwest colleges who are looking to return home to South Florida.

Scheduling could be difficult. St. Thomas will compete in the Mid-South Conference that includes four schools from Kentucky, two from Georgia and one from Tennessee.

To cut down on the travel, Patacsil has already had discussions with the Keiser coaches about potentially co-hosting their own tournament and bringing northern schools down for an invitational. Patacsil has many contacts with college coaches, including Missouri’s Brian Smith, who is a fellow St. Thomas Aquinas graduate.

Initially, Patacsil’s wrestlers will use the athletic facilities at the high school that is virtually next door, Monsignor Pace. But Patacsil expects to have an on-campus wrestling room soon.

Patacsil comes from a strong wrestling family.

His grandfather, Joe Patacsil, was an NCAA national champion, winning the 128-pound title in 1950 at Purdue. In 1999, he became the second Purdue wrestler to enter the school’s athletics Hall of Fame.

Jake’s father, Frank, is the head coach at Logansport High (Indiana). Jake’s uncle, Ted, is an assistant at Logansport. And Jake’s brother, Sam, also wrestled at Purdue and is now an assistant at St. Thomas Aquinas.

“Wrestling is the family business,” Jake Patacsil said. “Going to Purdue allowed me to get closer to my grandfather. My whole family has always supported me, including my mother, who also went to Purdue.

“My brother will be a father soon. I can’t wait to be a part of a fourth-generation Patacsil wrestler.”

This story was originally published February 20, 2020 at 2:00 PM.