Pitt-Johnstown's Pat Pecora, the winningest coach in all levels of collegiate wrestling, was named the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Super Region I Wrestling Coach of the Year for the 21^st time in his career at a banquet on the eve of the 2023 Regional Championships at East Stroudsburg University.
 
Pecora, who became college wrestling's all-time winningest coach on February 7, 2020, led his Mountain Cats to a 15-0 dual meet record and a share of the program's seventh consecutive Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Dual Meet Championship with a 7-0 mark in conference duals.  The undefeated dual meet season marked the first for his Mountain Cats since 1997-98.
 
Pecora also guided his squad to a runner-up finish that included Jacob Ealy, the champion at 149 lbs., at the Midwest Classic in Indianapolis in December.
 
Each of the six winners now becomes eligible for the NWCA National Coach of the Year award that will be presented on March 9 prior to the NCAA Division II National Wrestling Championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
 
Pecora, who also doubles as Pitt-Johnstown's Athletic Director since July 2008, took over the Mountain Cat wrestling program in 1976.
 
On February 7, 2020, he secured his 617^th dual meet win and snapped a 46-year-old record to become college wrestling's all-time winningest coach in all divisions of NCAA, plus NAIA and Junior College.  He sits at 646 career wins after the 2022-23 season.
 
Pecora took over as head coach of the Mountain Cat wrestling program in 1976 following a stellar wrestling career at West Liberty State (WV) College.
 
Pecora, the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) National Coach of the Year in 1995, 1999, 2019, and 2022, has led Pitt-Johnstown to a pair of NCAA Division II National Championships, 24 NCAA Regional titles, and seven straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships.
 
His teams won five straight NCAA Regional titles from 2003 through 2007 and ten in a row from 1992 through 2001.
 
Pecora's squads also have 36 Top-20 national finishes, 23 Top-10 finishes, and 11 Top-5 finishes.

Pecora has tutored 164 All-Americans and 14 individual national champions who have combined for 22 titles. 
 
Academically, his teams led the nation in NWCA All-Academic Wrestling Team selections from 1997 through 2000.  Since 1990, Pecora has coached well over 100 NWCA All-Academic Wrestling Team members.

In 1996 and 1999, his teams captured the NCAA Division II National Championship, the first and second in school history.  In 1995 and 1999, Pecora was named NCAA Division II National "Coach of the Year."  Also in 1999, he received the National Wrestling Coaches Association Coaching Excellence Award, given to the best coach in all divisions.  Pecora also coached the National All-Star Team, which showcased the best wrestlers in the nation from all divisions.
 
Pecora, a member of the NWCA Board of Directors, was also the president of that organization for two terms.
 
Pecora has earned induction into nine halls of fame...Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame-East Boro Chapter (1994), Cambria County Sports (1998) West Liberty State (W.Va.) College Halls of Fame (1998), Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame (2001), NCAA Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame (2003), Pitt-Johnstown Athletics Hall of Fame (2015), Western Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame (2016), Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame (2017), and the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Italian-American Sports Hall of Fame (2021).
 
Coach Pecora also earned the 2008 United States Marine Corps Excellence in Leadership Award.
 
The National Wrestling Coaches Association, established in 1928, is a non-profit organization for the advancement of all levels of the sport of wrestling with primary emphasis on developing coaches who work in academic environments. The three core competencies of the NWCA are: Coaching Development, Student-Athlete Welfare, and the Promotion of Wrestling.