USA
Dream Team Coach
Coach
VIRG VAGLE
Save for countless wrestling practices at Paynesville Area
High School
(Paynesville, Minn.), Virg Vagle has never personally recorded
a pin or
match win. Vagle, who was inducted into the Minnesota Wrestlng
Hall of Fame
as a coach in 1990, never wrestled. He captained his high school
basketball
team, as his school did not even have a wrestling team at that
time.
But after playing football at Augsburg College (Minneapolis, Minn.)
and
taking a teaching job at the middle school in Paynesville in 1965,
the Lake
Bronson, Minn., native became an assistant coach on the three-year-old
wrestling team.
In 38 years as head coach, Vagle took the Bulldogs to 17 state
tournaments,
won four state titles (1987, 1990, 1991, and 2000), coached 58
individual
placewinners at state, including nine state champs, and became
the
winningest wrestling coach in Minnesota in 1997. He retired in
2004 ranking
second in the state in career coaching wins.
In Vagle's 38 years as coach, Paynesville won conference titles
in wrestling
29 times, including an 18-year unbeaten streak in conference duals
from
1975-1993.
Among his wrestlers who competed collegiately, Pat Neu ('72)
won an NCAA
title at the University of Minnesota in 1977 and Brad Fenske ('92)
captained
the Army team at West Point and set numerous school records.
Besides wrestling, Vagle taught mathematics and physical education
for 35
years at Paynesville Area Middle School, served as the head football
coach
for the Bulldogs for 30 years, leading the Bulldogs to the state
semifinals
in 1979, and coached junior high baseball for more than 20 years.
He
retired from teaching in June 2000 and from wrestling coaching
after the
2003-04 season.
Vagle and his wife Pat have seven children; their five sons
all wrestled for
Paynesville, compiling a 462-149-11 record, a school mark for
a single
family. In semi-retirement, Vagle works as a financial planner
and enjoys
traveling, hobby farming, golfing, and hunting.
ADDITIONAL CHARTS (if needed)
Virg Vagle & Paynesville WrestlingBy The Numbers
The Road to 661 Coaching Wins
1st Win December 1966 vs. EV-W
100th Win December 1977 vs. Rocori
250th Win January 1987 vs. Sauk Centre
258th Win March 1987 (State Title #1)
328th Win March 1990 (State Title #2)
351th Win March 1991 (State Title #3)
400th Win January 1994 vs. Litchfield
465th Win January 1997 (State Record)
500th Win January 1998 vs. Austin
566th Win March 2000 (State Title #4)
600th Win December 2001 vs. Austin
661th Win February 2004 vs. Mille Lacs
State Team Titles
1987 Bulldogs (20-0) beat Plainview-Elgin-Millville 24-18 to win
the
team's, and the school's, first state championship.
1990 Bulldogs (24-0) beat Staples-Motley 23-20 to win a second
state
title in Class A.
1991 Bulldogs (23-1) beat Frazee 36-18 to win back-to-back state
titles.
Their only loss was 32-27 to Class AA champ Apple Valley, breaking
a
36-match winning streak for Paynesville.
2000 Bulldogs (31-3) upset Frazee 24-21 to win a fourth state
title and
avenging their only loss in the state finals, a 25-23 loss to
Frazee in
1992.
Individual State Champions
1979 Steve Fuchs (119)
1986 Gerald Garvick (HWT)
1991 Greg Schwartz (140)
1992 Brad Fenske (140)
1992 Scott Hoeft (152)
1996 Lee Hiltner (HWT)
2000 David Kerzman (125)
2001 David Kerzman (130)
2002 Marty Engen (189)
Vagle/Schwartz Family
The Virg and Pat Vagle Family ranks
first all-time in career wrestling wins
for Paynesville Area High School
with a combined record of 462-149-11.
Greg Schwartz ('91) 157-29-5
Troy Vagle ('87) 110-32-2
Ryan Schwartz ('83) 81-36-2
Jay Vagle ('85) 74-15-2
Shawn Schwartz ('90) 40-37
TOTAL 462-149-11