Joe Baranik was named the inaugural head coach of the newly established St. Andrews Presbyterian College wrestling program in March of 2006.

Baranik comes to St. Andrews with over 24 years of wrestling coaching experience at both the collegiate and high school levels.

Baranik joins the SAPC athletic department after spending the past 2 1/2 years at Maury High School ( Norfolk, Va.) where he worked in the Department of Health and Physical Education. Baranik has also served as the head wrestling coach at Maury. Baranik has qualified 13-of-14 Commodore wrestlers for Regionals, coached two District Team Championships, and coached 14 District Champions in that short period of time.

Baranik will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the mat having worked as an assistant at four Division-I colleges and coaching at the high school level for 16 years. St. Andrews competes at the NCAA Division II level.

Baranik started his coaching as an assistant at Slippery Rock University. Over the past 24 years, he has also coached at the University of Virginia, the U.S. Military Academy, and Old Dominion University.

“I had the privilege to learn from several great coaches. I worked for the legendary Gray Simons at Old Dominion for three years, who is a two-time Olympian and seven-time national champion, and I was able to pick his brain. Fred Powell at Slippery Rock has prepared me for the technical part of the game,” said Baranik.

Baranik’s experience at West Point and UVA, which he believes are both outstanding academic schools, has also helped prepare himself for coaching at SAPC.

Baranik’s high school coaching experience has consisted of working at Mercer High School (Mercer, Pa.), Hollidaysburg Area High School (Hollidaysburg, Pa.), and Maury. Baranik has coached a Pennsylvania State Champion, two State finalists, and has had a fifth-place team in the PIAA State Tournament.

The resume of Joe Baranik also consists of numerous other coaching experiences and accomplishments including camps, clubs and clinics. Baranik has worked with the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA), the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Association (PWCA), and the PA Wrestling Newsmagazine.

St. Andrews Presbyterian College use to participate in wrestling during the NAIA years, but the 2006/2007 team will be the inaugural squad for the colleges NCAA Division II era.

Baranik will be moving to Laurinburg in the summer of ’06 with his wife, Roberta, and two children, Troy and Marina.

Coach Baranik would like to challenge any new recruit that would like to come to St. Andrews and participate on the 2006/07 team. If you are interested in being a member of the inaugural team, please contact Admissions at 1-800-763-0198.