Like father, like son: Jeff Ragan returns to Lemon Bay High wrestling

ENGLEWOOD − When Jeffrey Ragan was a year old, his father Walt Ragan moved his family from Louisiana to a quaint little spot in Southwest Florida known as Englewood.

Walt Ragan began teaching and coaching wrestling at Lemon Bay High School, and Jeff affectionately became known as a mat rat.

As he got older and roamed the halls, gymnasium and wrestling room at Lemon Bay High, Jeff discovered the many wrestling accomplishments of the Manta Rays student/athletes.

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“I remember thinking I’m going to be just as good as all these guys,” Jeff said.

Wrestling for his dad, Jeff more than earned his way on the Wrestling Wall of Fame with state championships in 1994 and ’95 after a state runner-up in 1993.

But he did not stop there.

He went on to Oklahoma State, one of the premier college wrestling programs in the country. There Jeff was an NCAA All-American, Big XII Champion, Oklahoma State Male Student Athlete of the Year.

After wrestling internationally winning a FILA Wrestling National Championship for the United States in 1997 in Helsinki, Finland, Jeff became a college coach at The Citadel in South Carolina for 14 years, turning the most southern Division I wrestling program into a top-25 team nationally.

Pivot to high school coaching

He then pivoted.

Nine years ago, Jeff took over a wrestling program at Woodward Academy in College Park, Georgia, and turned it into a power with five state titles in the past five years, sending 12 wrestlers to Division I colleges to wrestle.

“I took that as far as I could take it,” Jeff said.

Meanwhile, Walt was putting a cap on a 45-year Hall of Fame coaching career.

Seeing the impact his father has made on coaching high school student/wrestlers and remembering all the good he had done during his long, illustrious coaching career at Lemon Bay got Jeff thinking.

“That’s where I want to go one day when I retire,” Jeff said. “That’s where I want to spend my golden years.”

And then Jeff thought “Why wait?”

A return to Lemon Bay High

Through the efforts of former Lemon Bay High wrestler David Kelly, whose son Logan is a wrestler for the Manta Rays, the thought of bringing Jeff back to Englewood gained momentum.

Of course, Lemon Bay’s current coach Mike Schyck, a two-time state champion at the school and decorated wrestler in his own right, had to be onboard with the plan.

Schyck, who coached the Manta Rays for the past seven years, recently changed jobs. Formerly a Director at the Englewood YMCA, Schyck became a salesman last year with Matrix Fitness. His territory is the entire state of Florida.

“It was a challenge to balance both the past year,” Schyck said. “I’m really wanting to do well at the job I’m doing.

“I wasn’t going to leave the school in a lurch. I’m proud of the way the program has gone. We don’t have a feeder program, except for a five-week program we do at the middle school each year. The guys who come in start as freshmen.”

With his son Lance Schyck, a two-time state champion and runner-up who went 118-1 during his final three years at Lemon Bay, off to college, Mike did not mind stepping down — or more accurately — to the side to allow for the return of Jeff Ragan.

“I took the wrestling job to get a program going and to get the four years with my son,” said Schyck, who plans to remain on as an assistant. “I did that and stayed an extra year, maybe one more year than I thought.

“It’s kinda perfect timing that we made the transition.”

Like father, like son

Thus, the 46-year-old Jeff Ragan will be the Manta Rays new wrestling coach for the 2023-24 season.

“I was more than happy than to try and follow in Mike’s footsteps,” Jeff said. “Guys like Mike Schyck motivated me. I want to follow in the footsteps of great wrestlers who wrestled for my dad.”

Like father, like son.

“Now, I’m the honors math teacher and wrestling which is exactly what my dad did 45 years ago when he started this program,” Jeff said.

And what does Walt think about his son following in his footsteps?

“He was excited, but he was trying to hide his excitement,” Jeff said. “He said this past weekend, I was acting like I didn’t care, but I’m really excited you’re going to Lemon Bay.”

“Actually, I think he’ll do a great job,” Walt said from his home in St. Louis, Missouri. “Jeff has plenty of coaching experience. Jeff is ready for it. He really has got it down pat and really understands.

“I’m very excited to see him coaching at Lemon Bay.”

As an added bonus, Jeff’s wife MaryClaire Radaszewski, accepted a job as Dean of Students at Port Charlotte High. She starts in the fall.

“Why wait until I’m retired,” Jeff said. “Why not start enjoying what I miss so much now. You have those moments when you realize what’s important in life.”

Bumps along the way

Jeff’s rise to stardom came with some bumps along the way. He left The Citadel because he needed a kidney transplant and was on dialysis for two years.

His younger brother, Brad, gave him the kidney.

Brad was a wrestler at Lemon Bay under his father Walt and at The Citadel under Jeff. After a stint in the Air Force, Brad is now a pilot with Delta.

Upon recovery, even though he was an adjunct math professor for 14 years, Jeff taught middle school math in Georgia, because he wanted to be in the school system where he could see his children every day.

Daughter Allie, 19, now is a freshman Savannah School of Arts and Design. Son Jacob, 16, will be a junior at Woodward Academy, where he not-surprisingly wrestles.

Jeff is in the process of orchestrating the move from Georgia to Englewood. He has a wrestling camp planned for Monday, June 5 and Tuesday, June 6, at Lemon Bay High.

“It’s a good opportunity for everybody,” Jeff said. “It’s been full steam ahead. It was a calling to come home. It was a calling to go back to my roots and be part of something bigger than myself. And get to fill some really big shoes with not only my dad, but work in tandem with some amazing coaches like David (Kelly), Mike (Schyck) and Jason Davids.

“We’re excited about the opportunity to go back.”

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Former Lemon Bay wrestler Jeff Ragan now coaching the Manta Rays