Four-Time All-American Jake Percival Joins RU Wrestling Staff
PISCATAWAY, NJ “Former Ohio University All-American Jake Percival, the program’s all-time leader in victories, has joined the Rutgers wrestling program as an assistant coach, announced RU head coach John Sacchi. Percival graduated from Ohio in May following a third-place finish at 157 pounds at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships “the fourth top five national finish for Percival in his career.
“Jake has been one of the top wrestlers in the country, in any weight class, over the last four years and we are excited to add him to our staff,” said Sacchi. “His knowledge in the wrestling room will make our kids better and his ability to connect with high school kids will help a great deal from a recruiting standpoint.”
Percival finished his senior season with a 32-3 record, which improved his school-record career mark to 142-10. The first four-time All-American in Mid-American Conference history completed his impressive NCAA resume with a second-place finish in 2004, a third-place finish in 2005, a fourth-place finish in 2002 and a fifth-place finish in 2003.
In his four trips to the National Tournament, Percival posted an 18-6 record. Overall, he was 113-4 during the regular season and 29-6 in the postseason, including an 11-0 mark in the MAC Tournament.
Undoubtedly one of the very elite wrestlers in both Ohio and MAC history, Percival barely missed out on becoming the Bobcats’ fifth national champion in both 2004 and 2005. Percival also posted a 129-8 record at Steele High School in Amherst, Ohio and was ranked third nationally during his senior year.
Wrestling Gear
