Pittsburgh Panthers wrestling - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Pittsburgh Panthers wrestling is the NCAA

National Collegiate Athletic Association

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...

Division 1 intercollegiate wrestling

Collegiate wrestling

Collegiate wrestling, sometimes known in the United States as Folkstyle wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling practised at the collegiate and university level in the United States. Collegiate wrestling emerged from the folk wrestling styles practised in the early history of the United States...

program of the University of Pittsburgh

University of Pittsburgh

The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

, often referred to as "Pitt", located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

. The Pitt wrestling team competes in the Eastern Wrestling League

Eastern Wrestling League

The Eastern Wrestling League is an NCAA Division I wrestling-only conference. It is made up mostly of schools from the northeastern United States whose primary conferences do not sponsor wrestling as an NCAA-qualifying event...

(Pitt's regular conference, The Big East Conference, does not sponsor wrestling) and hosts home meets at Fitzgerald Field House

Fitzgerald Field House

Fitzgerald Field House is a 4,122-seat multi-purpose athletic venue on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Fitzgerald Field House is named for Rufus Fitzgerald, a past chancellor of the university....

on the campus of the school. Since the Pitt wrestling program began in the 1912-1913 school year, it has produced 16 individual national champions and 70 All-America

All-America

An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...

n selections. The head coach of the Panthers since 1979 is Rande Stottlemyer.

History

Wrestling at Pitt began in the 1912-1913 school year and eventually became one of the most tradition-rich sports at the University. Pitt's wrestling program boasts 16 individual NCAA national champions, the 13th most among all schools, and 70 All-Americans throughout the program's history. Pitt's all-time dual meet record, through the 2009-10 season, is 478-371-19 (0.562).

The school's most prominent years were the during the era the program was directed by head coach Rex Peery. During this stretch from 1952 until 1963, the team never finished lower than 9th at the NCAA Championship

NCAA Wrestling Team Championship

The NCAA Wrestling Team Championship was first officially awarded in 1929 and began to be continuously awarded on an annual basis in 1934 except during World War II 1943-1945. In 1928 and from 1931 to 1933, there was only an unofficial title. Oklahoma A&M, now Oklahoma State, won the 1928, 1931...

, placing second both in 1954 and when hosting the NCAA Championship at Fitzgerald Field House in 1957. Perry coached 13 individual national champions and twice during this span, in 1956 and 1957, the Panthers boasted five All-Americans in one season. Pitt also won the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association

Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association

The Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association is an NCAA Division I collegiate wrestling conference. It has been active since 1905 and has had a variety of schools as members throughout its tenure.-Current members:*American University...

tournament in 1954, 1955, 1956, and 1960.

Since 1979, Pitt's wrestling team has been under the leadership of head coach Rande Stottlemyer, a three time All-American wrestler for Pitt in 1974, 1975, and 1978 and a four-time EWL Coach of the Year (1986-87, 1989-90, 2007-08, 2009-10). Under his direction, Pitt has produced 29 All-Americans and 3 individual National Champions including the 2008 champion at 174lbs, Keith Gavin. Stottlemyer recorded the 250th win of his coaching career, all of which came at the University of Pittsburgh, with a 38-3 victory over Cleveland State

Cleveland State Vikings

The Cleveland State Vikings, or Vikes, are the athletic teams of Cleveland State University. Before as Fenn College they were known as the Fenn College Foxes or Fenn Foxes. Cleveland State competes in NCAA Division I. They have been a member of the NCAA Division I since 1972. They were previously...

on January 28, 2009. In 2010, Stottlemyer guided Pitt to a school record 17 dual meet wins and an overall 17-1-1 record on route to the team capturing the Panthers' first-ever EWL dual-meet championship. In 2011, Pitt repeated as dual meet champions with a 6-0 EWL record and went on to win its first EWL tournament team title.

NCAA Championship results

Pitt wrestling has scored points in 56 NCAA Division I Championships

NCAA Wrestling Team Championship

over the years, finishing as high as second place in twice and in the top ten 13 times.

Pitt wrestling's NCAA Division I Championship results

Year	Finish	AAs	NCs
1952	9th-t	1	1
1953	6th	3	1
1954	2nd	3	2
1955	3rd	3	1
1956	3rd	4	2
1957	2nd	5	3
1958	9th	2	1
1959	5th	3
1960	8th	1
1961	5th	3	1
1962	6th-t	2
1963	4th-t	4	1
1964	27th-t
1965	45th-t
1966	45th-t

Year	Finish	AAs
1968	52nd-t
1969	28th	1
1970	8th	2
1971	35th-t
1972	66th
1973	48th-t
1974	18th	2
1975	30th-t	1
1976	37th-t
1977	43rd-t
1978	20th	1
1979	55th-t
1982	44th-t
1983	55th-t
1984	25th-t	1

Year	Finish	AAs	NCs
1985	64th-t
1986	25th	2
1987	15th	1
1988	15th	1	1
1989	13th	1	1
1990	44th
1991	27th	2
1992	19th-t	1
1993	30th-t	1
1994	24th-t	1
1995	26th	2
1996	24th	2
1997	18th	2
1998	20th	3
1999	37th-t

Year	Finish	AAs	NCs
2000	18th	2
2001	25th-t
2002	45th-t
2003	19th-t	1
2004	38th-t
2005	29th	1
2006	35th
2007	20th	2
2008	16th	1	1
2009	38th	1
2010	26th	1
2011	34th

AAs=All-Americans; NCs=Individual National Champions. t=team tied for place in final standings. Refs:

Individual National Champions

Pitt wrestlers have won individual NCAA national championships 16 different times in various weight classes. All-time, Pitt has the 13th most individual NCAA champion wrestlers among all Division I schools.

Hugh Peery, 115lbs (1952, 1953, 1954)
Joe Solomon, 167lbs (1954)
Ed Peery, 123lbs (1955, 1956, 1957)
Ed DeWitt, 167lbs (1956)
Tom Alberts, 167lbs (1957)
Ron Schirf, 191lbs (1957)
Paul Powell, 123lbs (1958)
Larry Lauche, 130lbs (1961)
Jim Harrison, 167lbs (1963)
Pat Santoro, 142lbs (1988, 1989)
Keith Gavin, 174lbs (2008)

Hall of Fame

Pitt has three individuals inducted as Distinguished Members of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a wrestler or a coach.

Rex Peery, coach, inducted 1976
Ed Peery, wrestler, inducted 1980
Hugh Peery, wrestler, inducted 1980

External links

Video

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.