Wagenhorst was born in Gouldsboro, Pennsylvania in 1863. He played baseball and football while attending Princeton University (then known as the College of New Jersey). At the time of his graduation from Princeton, on June 8, 1888, he debuted at third base for the Philadelphia Quakers in the National League. After playing in only two games, Wagenhorst soon accepted an invitation to become coach of Penn's second paid football team, succeeding Frank Dole. For his coaching duties, Wagenhorst was paid $275.[2]
In the fall of 1888 as Wagenhorst served the Penn football team as its coach, trainer and he even played end briefly that season. In 1889, while coaching at Penn, Wagenhorst enrolled in Law School. As a Penn law student, Wagenhorst also became third-baseman and captain of the school's 1890 and 1891 baseball teams.
