The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Amherst graduate reflects on perfect run
State championship was crowning achievement of nine-year run in high school, college
A collection of medals and trophies signifying a mega-successful wrestling career rests in the basement of the Percival family home in Amherst.
It’s there Jake Percival and his two boys have fun while play wrestling. There are even times when the boys place a few of dad’s medals around their necks.
One in particular has an extraspecial meaning for Percival these days, even if he would rather not boast about it to his sons.
“I really don’t want to put pressure on them,” said Percival, whose sons Jax, 9, and Roen, 7, are wrestlers. “I don’t want to go that route. I’m just proud to be a dad.”
Soon enough, his sons will fully understand their father’s greatest feat on the wrestling mat. Percival, who turned 38 in February, is without question one of the great wrestlers Lorain County has ever produced. Some, including his high school coach, might argue he’s the greatest when Percival’s college career is included into the discussion.
lt was a spectacular nine-year run (he redshirted as a freshman in college) for Percival at Amherst High School and Ohio University.
The crowning achievement of that time occurred 20 years ago at the Division I state wrestling tournament in Columbus.
Percival was chasing a dream and perfection. He got both, as he capped a 36-0 season with a state championship at 140 pounds. The following day, The Morning Journal headline read, “Perfect Percival.”
Ineed he was, but there was also a sense of relief for Percival, who was a state runner-up as a sophomore and junior. He did not want to be a three-time state runner-up.
“A big weight lifted off shoulders,” said Percival, thinking back to his 7-3 decision against Cincinnati Moeller’s Joe Zinkan in the state championship match.
“It was the final goal, in my final match, and it was a big stepping stone into college. It was also a great release.”
Percival wasn’t afraid of pressure — “You want to put pressure on yourself to perform at that top level,” he said — so when hoards of family and friends drove or in some cases flew to Columbus, it all led to something special.
Amherst coach Bill Walker — now in his 28th year at the high school — felt it as well. He marveled at “how in control” Percival was during the state championship match. The pressure to be a state champion was there all season for Percival, who instead of allowing that pressure to consume him turned the tables.
“Right before the match, he said, ‘I got this.’ “said Walker. “He wasn’t being cocky, but that was something that was different for Jake. I felt it too. It was time for him.”
It’s fair to say Percival was due for a special senior season, and that’s not to say his first three at Amherst were a disappointment. That’s the type of standard Percival built. The 2000 state title remains the only one in the history of the Comets’ wrestling program.
“That one feeling of finally winning (a state title) made all the work worth while,” said Percival.
From Amherst, he left for Ohio U. on a wrestling scholarship and carried that momentum from high school. A look at Percival’s standout wrestling career:
• He was third in the state in D-I at 103 pounds as a freshman.
• As a sophomore, he was the state runner-up at 112, then again the state runner-up as a junior at 130. Percival’s opponents in those matches were elite. St. Edward’s Mark Jayne and Marion Harding’s Jeff Ratliff were three-time state champions.
• As a senior, he was 36-0, the 140-pound state champion and ranked No. 3 nationally.
• Unseeded as a 149-pound redshirt freshman for the Bobcats at the 2002 NCAA tournament, Percival upset top-seeded and previously undefeated Mike Zadick of Iowa, 18-4, on his way to a fourth-place finish.
• As a junior, he took a 38-0 mark into the 157-pound NCAA final, where he lost, 4-2, against Stanford’s Matt Gentry.
He capped his wrestling career as a senior with a 32-3 record and a thirdplace finish at the NCAA tournament.
• Percival finished his college career as a four-time All-American and four-time Mid-American Conference champion.
• His combined record at Amherst (129-8) and Ohio (142-10) was 271-18 — a .937 winning percentage.
“His work ethic, no one could match it,” said Walker about what separated Percival from others. “He picked up moves quickly. He studied wrestling. He was always listening and he made it fun.”
Percival’s family grew up in Elyria, and by age 6 — with the encouragement of his father and uncle — joined the wrestling program at the Elyria YMCA. There, Percival became friends with the likes of future St. Edward state champions Jayne, Yoshi Nakamura and others.
Percival’s family eventually moved to Amherst. In junior high, he met four-time Oberlin High state champion Erik Burnett, at the time an assistant for Amherst’s middle school team who had yet to be named coach at Elyria High. The impact Burnett made on Percival taught him the importance of “commitment and dedication” in wrestling.
When it came time for high school, Percival took a different path than some of his wrestling friends who chose St. Edward. He opted to stay home at Amherst, and the impact of Percival within the wrestling program was huge.
“When I took over, Amherst hadn’t won a match in four years,” said Walker. “His freshman year, we won the conference. Jake put us on the map.”
Following graduation at Ohio, Percival joined the wrestling staff at Rutgers and began work on a graduate business degree for a career in human resources.
Eventually, he made a switch in careers and decided to become a teacher. Percival returned to Ohio to be closer to his then-girlfriend and nowwife Meredith (who teaches at Lorain High) and finished grad school at Heidelberg.
He’s spent the past decade as a physical education teacher and wrestling coach at Westlake — including one season as the Demons head coach — then his alma mater Amherst. Percival is currently in his third year at Olmsted Falls Intermediate School, and teaches PE to middle school kids and is an assistant wrestling coach.
“It’s definitely a rewarding job, a rewarding experience,” said Percival. “From the first day of school to the last day of school. Some kids have never played football or soccer or volleyball. Introducing them to different sports ... They love coming to phys ed each day, and that makes me love it as well. Seeing them grow, seeing them excel.”
Much the same way Percival did as a wrestler, when 20 years ago he was perfect.