University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Athletics

                Over the last 39 years, Mr. Pat Pecora has built the Pitt-Johnstown wrestling into one of the nation’s most premiere programs.  Mr. Pecora, the “winningest” NCAA Division II wrestling coach in history, has guided the Mountain Cats to a pair of NCAA National championships and 20 Regional titles.  He has coached 10 individual national champions who have combined to win 17 titles and he has tutored well over 100 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) All-Academic Team members.  On top of it all, Mr. Pecora has been doubling as Pitt-Johnstown’s athletic director since July 2008.
               Following a stellar wrestling career at West Liberty State (WV) College where he was a four-year starter, three-year All-Conference selection, and a two-time National Qualifier under Hall of Fame Coach Vince Monseau, Mr. Pecora jumped right into the world of coaching.  Fresh out of college, Mr. Pecora spent one year at East Allegheny High School, before Pitt-Johnstown Athletic Director Ed Sherlock took a chance on the tough kid from Turtle Creek and named him head coach prior to the 1976-77 season.
               Mr. Pecora took over a program that had been a varsity sport for just two seasons.  After struggling through a 4-12 first season, Mr. Pecora went 12-4 the next year and slowly built Pitt-Johnstown wrestling into a national power and suffered just one more losing season over the next 38 years.
               His program secured its first NCAA All-American in 1979 when Barry Gresh placed fifth at the National Tournament.  Then, in 1981, Pitt-Johnstown finished ninth in the country and saw Sean Isgan become the first Mountain Cat ever to reach the national finals in any sport.
               With the program on the rise, Pitt-Johnstown won its first of 20 regional titles in 1982, before becoming full members of the NCAA the next year.  That season, the Mountain Cats placed 19^th at the National Tournament and had John Revesz become the program’s first four-time All-American in program history.  Then, in 1985, Rob Yahner became Pitt-Johnstown first and only four-time regional champion.
               The rest is history!  Mr. Pecora guided the Mountain Cats through “The Carlton Haselrig Era” from 1985-89 in which Haselrig earned an NCAA record six individual National Championships, including three at the NCAA Division I level.  In 1996, Pitt-Johnstown reached the top of the mountain by holding off four-time consecutive National Champions Central Oklahoma to earn the school’s first national title behind Lee Schickel’s individual championship.
               Just three year later, Mr. Pecora guided the Mountain Cats to another National Championship with three individual champions (Jody Strittmatter, John Strittmatter, Troy Barbush) and a national runner-up (Ethan Brownback).
               On Feb. 14, 2012, he became the first wresting coach in NCAA Division II history and just the sixth in all divisions to earn 500 career dual-meet victories when his Mountain Cats defeated Shippensburg University, 39-3.  His more than 530 wins rank third all-time and first among active coaches in all levels of collegiate wrestling.  His teams have averaged nearly 14 dual meet victories each year.
               Mr. Pecora’s teams have captured 20 NCAA Regional Championships, including five straight from 2003 through 2007 and ten in a row from 1992 through 2001.  He was named the NCAA Division II Coach of the Year in 1995 and 1999 and has been selected as the Regional “Coach of the Year” 16 times.
               Under Mr. Pecora Pitt-Johnstown has 31 Top-20 national finishes, 20 Top-10 finishes, and 10 top-five finishes.  He has mentored 138 All-Americans and 10 individual national champions who have combined for 17 titles, including Shane Valko (133 lbs.), the 2010 National Wrestler of the Year.  Academically, his teams led the nation in National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) All-Academic Wrestling Team selections from 1997 through 2000.  Since 1990, Mr. Pecora has coached over 100 NWCA All-Academic Wrestling Team members.
                Along with the Pitt-Johnstown Athletics Hall of Fame, Mr. Pecora has also earned induction into five other Halls of Fame, including the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame-East Boro Chapter (1994), Cambria County Sports Hall of Fame (1998), West Liberty State (W.Va.) College Hall of Fame (1998), Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame (2001), and the NCAA Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame (2003).  In addition, he earned the 2008 United States Marine Corps Excellence in Leadership Award.
               Mr. Pecora and his wife Tracy have four children:  Cristina, Marco, Marina and Nico.
               “The Pitt-Johnstown Athletics Hall of Fame has more meaning to me than any other because it is truly “my Life,” Mr. Pecora said.  “I came here as a young coach to take over a young program.  The program was my baby and I was a young parent.  Now, to see how much we have both grown and developed together is a very proud and humbling experience.”