Ken PagachPagach, who took the helm of the storied Edison mat program in 1964, coached more than 1,500 wrestlers in 30 seasons, with 33 state championship qualifiers, and two New Jersey individual state champions (Mario Ianni in 1970, and Joe Duhigg in 1989).
Pagach led Edison to 230 dual meet victories, nine district titles, 11 second-place district tournament finishes, three Middlesex County championships and three conference crowns.
His teams made seven state sectional final appearances and finished runner-up in the county tournament three times.
"He was Edison wrestling," said Gerry Nisivoccia, who served as assistant to Pagach until he became head coach upon his former boss' retirement in 1994.
Current Edison mat coach Tom White echoed that sentiment on coach Pagach, telling the Courier News, "He's extremely highly thought of. For a guy to put in 30 years nowadays is almost unheard. He was a staple of the program for such a long time."
Pagach's reach and impact extended well beyond Middlesex County, home to Edison High. He served as president of the New Jersey Wrestling Coaches Association for two years and vice president of the organization for three years. What's more, Pagach is credited with creating a statewide ranking system that the NJSIAA (New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association) still uses to determine sectional playoff qualifiers.
Despite being long considered a fixture on the New Jersey prep wrestling scene, Pagach was actually born in Texas in 1941, then came to the Garden State with his family at age 15.
He graduated from Ramsey High School in 1959, received a Bachelor of Arts in Education from Rutgers University in 1964 and completed his Master's in Education at Montclair State University in 1975.
Upon retirement from his education career in 1998, Ken Pagach and his wife Diana relocated to Marco Island, Fla.
A memorial service in New Jersey is planned for a later date.
When he retired from coaching in 1994, Pagach established an annual scholarship for the Edison High School wrestler with the highest GPA. In the past, this scholarship was self-funded by coach Pagach. To continue this tradition, his family has set up a GoFundMe page "to help keep both his memory and the scholarship alive."
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