(Story provided by St. Thomas Sports Communications)
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – St. Thomas University (STU) Athletic Director, Bill Rychel, announced Nosomy Pozo as the new Men's Wrestling coach in May. Pozo will become the second coach in program history.
"I feel grateful for the opportunity to be the next Wrestling Head Coach at St. Thomas. I'm excited to showcase my knowledge of the sport and elevate the program to the next level," said Coach Pozo on his hiring as the next head coach. "We are looking to build on the foundation that was here having our first All-American in David Pierson last season, who I got to work extremely close with in his championship run."
Nosomy Pozo jumped on board as an assistant coach last season and helped the Bobcats to their first NAIA All-American in David Pierson in the 141-weight class. The team had two qualifiers this season with Thomas Williams also in the 141 group.
"I wanted to thank President Armstrong and Athletic Director, Bill Rychel for the opportunity and for trusting me to guide this porogram," added Pozo.
Pozo, a Miami-native, looks to build a national contending program in his own backyard. The Southwest Senior High School graduate took his to North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) where he was a two-time NJCAA individual national champion in 2014 and 2015 at the 149-bout.
After a small stint away from the sport, Pozo returned picking up right where he left off at Life University in Marietta, Ga. In both his years at Life, Pozo moved up in weight class wrestling at the 157-bout now and won two more individual national championships in 2018 and 2019 now as an NAIA member. Pozo was also named the 2018 NAIA National Wrestling Championships Outstanding Wrestler Award Winner. The senior was the first national champion in program history for the Running Eagles, while also being the first two-time national champion in program history.
"After looking for a quality candidate to build our Wrestling program it became apparent that Coach Pozo has the vision to meet the expectations we have," said Athletic Director Rychel. "There are not many four-time national champions walking the earth. It is a testament to his work ethic and competitiveness. I look forward to watching the culture that he will build to create a championship environment."
Pozo is part of a very prestigious list of wrestlers, as he is the 9th wrestler in U.S. History to win four collegiate wrestling National titles.
"We are very excited that Nosomy has accepted the position of head coach of our wrestling program. We appreciate Coach Patacsil's efforts to get the program started and now we aim to become a top program in the NAIA and believe that Nosomy can take us there," stated President David A. Armstrong, J.D. "It was clear our current team was impressed by his coaching ability and discipline, and they strongly advocated for him to be the next head coach. In addition, he is one of only nine collegiate wrestlers to win four national championships in four years and so he certainly has the wrestling bona fides to take our program to the next level."
Once wrestling was over for Pozo, he stayed at Life for three years and helped produce 20 National All-Americans and three National Champions.
Pozo received his Bachelor's degree in business management and administration from Life University in 2019 and he received an Associate's degree in arts and science from NIACC in 2015.
When Coach Pozo was asked about what we can look forward to in this new upcoming era for the program, he states: "We are going to be a program that works hard, and I will bring a dedication and influence to our guys to reach their full potential on the mat and in the classroom with their academics. I want to build a great foundation of doing things the right way and using the skills they learn here at St. Thomas to implement into the real world."
The Bobcats will be heading into their fourth year as a program and compete in their second season in the Appalachian Athletic Conference.