PJ Ponce grew up in Mammoth, AZ. and started wrestling at the age of 9. His dad, Juan and brother, John were his 1st wrestling coaches. In high school, he won 2 Arizona State titles in 1987 & 1988 for San Manuel H.S. under David Blank and HOF Coach Manny Yubeta. In college, he wrestled for the Univ. of Mary in Bismarck, N.D. for the legendary coach, Milo Trusty. He was a 4X national qualifier and a 2X All-American in 1992 & 1993. After college, PJ returned to his alma mater and became the Assistant Wrestling Coach at San Manuel H.S. under the tutelage of Head Wrestling Coach, Manny Yubeta. From 1993-2004, the Miners captured 4 region titles, 1 state runner-up finish and won San Manuel High School’s 1st wrestling state title in school history in 2002 and another in 2004. 

He was the first head wrestling coach at Empire High School. He and his amazing staff led the Ravens from 2006-2011. They built the program from scratch and had two top-ten state finishes during this era. 

PJ took over the Mountain View-Marana H.S. program in 2012. He and his outstanding staff led the Mt Lions to 7 top-3 finishes in 11 years, 4 state runners-up finishes and the school’s 1st wrestling state title in 2017. He was selected the NFHS - Arizona Coach of the Year in 2021. He was the Division II Southern Arizona Coach of the Year in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017. He was also inducted into the San Manuel High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014 & coached 26 state champions in his 28 years of coaching.