Patnesky hired as Yellow Jackets’ wrestling coach
WAYNESBURG – Bobby Patnesky, a former standout at Canon-McMillan High School, was hired Wednesday as head wrestling coach at Waynesburg University.
Patnesky is a former head coach at the Division I level at Davidson and at Division II Penn State Behrend. He replaces Aaron McKinney, who resigned after three years and was the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Coach of the Year this past season.
“Bobby’s background in Western Pennsylvania and his accomplishments as a head coach and athlete at the Division I and III levels made him the ideal candidate,” said Waynesburg athletic director Tim Fusina. “He shows a passion for the sport, coaching and mentoring his athletes. We are thrilled to welcome him to Waynesburg University and look forward to see him re-build this program to regional and national prominence.”
Patnesky enjoyed a standout prep and collegiate wrestling career at Canon-McMillan and West Virginia University. He spent 12 years as the head coach at Davidson and five years at Behrend, where he revitalized a Division III program that had been dormant for nearly 40 years.
“I am extremely excited for the opportunity to lead a program with a very rich tradition,” Patnesky said. “We have a great nucleus of young men to build our team around and will expand on the successes they have achieved.”
Patnesky was tabbed to restart Behrend’s program in the 2017-18 season. He served as chair of the NCAA Division III Wrestling Committee while with the Lions. In addition to his coaching duties, Patnesky also served a professor of Kinesiology.
At Davidson, Patnesky coached for 12 seasons and led the Wildcats to 68 dual match victories, the second-most in program history. He mentored four Southern Conference champions and five NCAA qualifiers. In 2013, Davidson’s Anthony Elias was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the Southern Conference Tournament.
Prior to being the head coach at Davidson, Patnesky served as an assistant coach with the Wildcats for one season. He spent two years as an assistant at Ohio University and began his coaching career as an assistant at West Virginia.
As a wrestler at Canon-Mac, Patnesky was a WPIAL champion, a three-time Junior Nationals All-American and a Junior Nationals finalist. With the Mountaineers, he was a three-time NCAA Division I national qualifier with more than 100 collegiate victories. He won the Eastern Wrestling League championship at 133 pounds as a senior, competed for the U.S. on a tour of France and Poland and was an NWCA Academic All-American.
Patnesky was inducted into the Washington-Greene County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2015. He earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from WVU in 2000 and a master’s in athletic administration from Ohio in 2003.
“I am looking forward to uniting the Waynesburg wrestling family, because the tighter we come together the more we can achieve in the future,” said Patnesky. “The future is very bright for Waynesburg University Wrestling.”