A couple of years into his college athletic career, Southmoreland grad Jake Beistel had already established himself as a valuable football player at the Division I level at Saint Francis University. When injuries prematurely ended his time on the gridiron, though, Beistel didn’t stop competing. Instead, he returned to wrestling, a sport he dominated in high school. With his unique path that led him to Seton Hill University, and several years later, Saint Vincent College, Beistel is featured in this installment of Westmoreland Where Are They Now.

During his time at Southmoreland, Beistel was dominant in both football and wrestling, beginning as a freshman in 2012.

On the gridiron, he played center and middle linebacker through his first three seasons. In his first campaign with Southmoreland, he collected All-Conference accolades. Collectively, the Scotties went 3-6 overall, including 3-5 in the conference, failing to qualify for the WPIAL playoffs. In 2013, Beistel posted 54 tackles and five sacks, again garnering All-Conference honors. The Scotties went 4-6, and once again posted a conference mark of 3-5, coming up short of the postseason.

As a junior, Beistel notched 62 tackles and four sacks, receiving All-Conference recognition for the third time. Southmoreland once again narrowly missed the playoffs, however, going 4-5 overall, including 4-4 in the conference.

Beistel shifted positions in his senior campaign in 2015, moving to right guard on offense, and defensive tackle on the other side of the ball. He accumulated 67 tackles and four sacks, while also forcing a pair of fumbles and recovering three. For his efforts, Beistel not only was All-Conference for a fourth time, but he was honored as Second-Team All-State. His stellar play was still not enough to get the Scotties into the playoffs, though, as Southmoreland went 3-6 overall, including 3-5 in the conference.

Throughout his time at Southmoreland, the Scotties’ infamous postseason drought continued.

“Obviously, you want that success as a team. Unfortunately, that’s how you’re measured a lot – how you do as a team,” Beistel lamented. That doesn’t mean that Beistel didn’t have plenty of fond memories during his time with the Scotties, however.

“I just remember playing football with those guys and having a really good core group of guys who I played with growing up,” he said. “We didn’t have a lot of success as a team, unfortunately, but we had a lot of fun, we made a lot of good memories, and I had a lot of amazing coaches there, too.”

He also reflects on some of the rivalry matchups against Mount Pleasant Area and Derry Area, as well as when teammate Jake Pisula broke the Southmoreland career rushing mark.

“The offensive linemen felt good blocking for him for all of those years when he finally got the record,” Beistel revealed.

At the same time, Beistel was thriving on the mat with the Scotties. Competing at heavyweight as a freshman, he achieved a record of 34-7, taking first place in the section, and second in the WPIAL Class AA Championship. From there, Beistel placed fifth in the Southwest Regional, but failed to place in the PIAA Class AA tournament.

It was after that season that Beistel began to set his sights on a state title.

“When I had success as a freshman, I thought maybe this is something I can really do, because nobody at Southmoreland had done it before me,” he explained.

The following season, he improved to 38-6, repeating as section champion but again finishing as runner-up in the WPIAL Class AA bracket. Beistel also finished second in the regional, and placed fifth in the state competition.

In 2014-15, Beistel compiled a record of 38-5, winning the section but finishing with silver in the WPIAL, regional, and PIAA events. Those silvers turned to gold in Beistel’s senior campaign. He achieved a perfect mark of 36-0, winning the section, the WPIAL Class AA Championship, the Southwest Regional, and the PIAA Class AA crown.

In the state title bout, Beistel edged Zach Stafford of Cambridge Springs 3-2. Standing atop the podium was the culmination of years of work, making history in the process.

“That was definitely a major goal for me,” he revealed. “We went to the room on Christmas day to work out. I was just working out all the time – twice a day pretty much every day. That was my sole focus my senior year was to try to bring that state title back to Southmoreland for the first time.

“It’s just a crazy feeling – all the hard work you’ve put in, and all the time that people have put into you,” he said, highlighting the work of his head coach Ryan Shaw, as well as assistant coach Steve Santia.

“Coach Shaw’s practices were some of the most intense that I’ve ever been a part of, even when I was in college. We took a lot of pride in how hard we worked. I really have been blessed with a great group of coaches,” he continued, also highlighting Southmoreland football coach Mark Adams.

And while much of Beistel’s success came individually, his teammates were a key component in his achievements.

“There would be times where I was in the championship, so I was literally the last match of the night. Those guys (his teammates) would have to wait around all day Friday, all day Saturday for me to wrestle in the finals. I know that they definitely wanted to go home, but they were there cheering me on,” he detailed.

Although he established himself as the best heavyweight in the state, and also had success competing all over the country, Beistel knew his future was on the gridiron. Thus, he elected to play football at Saint Francis University.

“Football was my first love. I started playing that before I wrestled,” he revealed. “Me getting a full ride out of high school was something I really wanted to do. Wrestling, back then, it really wasn’t like that.”

As a freshman defensive lineman with the Red Flash in 2016, Beistel played in nine games, recording nine tackles. Collectively, Saint Francis enjoyed a strong season, going 7-5 overall, but 5-1 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) to capture the conference crown. As a result, SFU advanced to the NCAA FCS Playoffs, but fell to Villanova University.

“You could tell how tight the team was, even when I stepped on campus,” he said of the 2016 squad.

The following year, Beistel emerged as a starter at nose guard, as he played in all 11 games, posting 17 tackles and a pass defensed. The team regressed, however, compiling a mark of 5-6 overall and 3-3 in the NEC.

Following that season, though, Beistel suffered an injury that changed his life forever. During spring practice, he absorbed a blow to the head from a teammate that resulted in a concussion, an injury that had plagued him throughout his football career.

“I was one of those guys who would run away from the trainer in high school and college. I think that ended up hurting me a little bit because I should’ve said something those couple times I got my bell rung,” he lamented.

“The difference with this concussion was I felt weird days after, which had never happened before,” he elaborated.

After a series of tests, a doctor advised Beistel to step away from football.

“I had a great time at St. Francis. Unfortunately, playing so much kind of caught up with me,” Beistel revealed. With one door closed, Beistel pivoted his college athletic path.

“Wrestling is like the only other thing I’ve ever done, so I transitioned over to that,” he said.

His friendship with another Westmoreland County wrestling standout, Austin Shaw of Greensburg Salem, also helped lead Beistel back closer to home.

“He kind of was the one who actually got the ball rolling on me going to Seton Hill,” he said of Shaw, who is the nephew of Beistel’s high school wrestling coach.

In his return to the mat in the 2018-19 campaign, Beistel registered 11 wins, but he also experienced challenges after a couple seasons away from the sport.

“I thought it was going to be a little easier than it was. I didn’t have a ton of success the first year,” he noted. “That first year was really important because it showed me how much ground I had to make up for what I lost those two years.”

The 2019-20 season was much more fruitful for both Beistel and the Griffins. The heavyweight went 17-9, finishing fourth at the NCAA Division II Super Regional, just shy of qualifying for the NCAA Division II Championship.

“I definitely found my stride,” he said of his second year at Seton Hill. “Unfortunately, what I remember most about that season was being one match away from qualifying for nationals.”

Ultimately, that tournament was cancelled due to the arrival of COVID, however.

Seton Hill, meanwhile, improved from 6-7 overall and 2-4 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) the prior season to 8-6 overall and 5-2 in the conference. Collectively, the Griffins placed fourth at the NCAA Division II Super Regional.

Although COVID ultimately cancelled the subsequent season, Beistel initially intended to continue his career on the mat at SHU. However, when he learned that he was going to be a father, that plan changed. His son, Kash, was born in March 2021.

“I made the decision on my own to step away from Seton Hill and focus on getting a job and raising a family,” he revealed.

Thus, he began working at Manor Valley Golf Course under the guidance of Vince DeAugustine, who currently serves as the head coach for Seton Hill wrestling. He later shifted to working at Home City Ice.

It was that job that led him to his final college destination. While delivering ice, Beistel encountered Dom Nania, a former SHU assistant who had recently been hired to restart the wrestling program at Saint Vincent College.

“I learned that he was going to be the wrestling coach there, and I thought to myself maybe this is crazy fate,” said Beistel, who then asked Nania if he was in need of a heavyweight.

After discovering that he had eligibility left, Beistel made the decision to join the Bearcats for the 2023-24 season.

“I made a promise to my mom that I would finish school, and that’s kind of how I ended up at Saint Vincent,” he intimated. “It just so happened that I could get my degree close to home and get to wrestle again, which I never thought would happen.”

Overcoming another multi-year absence from the sport, Beistel went 14-4 during his lone campaign with SVC. He finished runner-up in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Championships, earning All-PAC Second-Team honors.

Beistel also redeemed that loss in the title bout, a pinfall defeat against Seth Phillips of Thiel College, as he notched a 14-4 decision in the rematch in the seventh-place bout at the NCAA Division III Southeast Regional.

Beistel’s contributions throughout the season proved vital for the Bearcats, as the fledgling program immediately established itself as the class of the PAC. Saint Vincent went 5-7 overall, including 2-1 in PAC matches, but the Bearcats took first place in the PAC Championship, “That was definitely the highlight of the year for me,” Beistel stated.

Beistel, who was in his mid-20s that season, also embraced the opportunity to work with a roster comprised primarily of freshmen. “I kind of took on an older brother type of role for those guys who had never been in college before,” he explained.

After his wrestling career concluded, though, Beistel continued his pursuit of a degree at Saint Vincent. That goal finally came to fruition in December, as he graduated with a degree in early childhood education.

Navigating a college course load while also supporting a family was challenging for Beistel, and he spent most of his limited free time working at Home City Ice.

“I would live off of the money I made in the summer all year,” he revealed. “Without my support system, it wouldn’t have been possible.”

As Beistel continues to pursue an opportunity in teaching, his family life has been at the forefront. Earlier this year, he became engaged to his girlfriend, Lexi, and they are expecting a girl next month. Kash, meanwhile, has just started wrestling.

The family recently moved from Crabtree to Latrobe.

Throughout the past several years, he has also served as a coach in various capacities. In football, he was on staff at Yough several years ago, and also returned to his alma mater to help mold the next group of Scotties.

Thus, Beistel had a sideline view when the Scotties football team finally qualified for the playoffs, as he was on the coaching staff in 2019 when the team ended its 40-year skid.

“It was great to see them finally break that playoff drought and then continue to have the success that they’ve been having,” he noted.

In wrestling, he has been on staff at Mount Pleasant Area, and he’s also given lessons to Franklin Regional standout heavyweight John Montgomery, who went 43-10 as a sophomore last campaign.

“I love coaching in general. I think it’s one of the most rewarding things that there is to do,” he stated.