Pittsburgh Panthers wrestling

The 1914–1915 Pitt wrestling team included All-American football star and future legendary Pitt head football coach Jock Sutherland (top row, second from right)

Wrestling at Pitt began in the 1912–1913 school year[2] and eventually became one of the most tradition-rich sports at the University. Pitt's wrestling program boasts 16 individual NCAA national champions, the 15th most among all schools,[3] and 78 All-Americans throughout the program's history.[4] Pitt's all-time dual meet record, through the 2013–14 season, is 535-396-19 (0.573).

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, placing second both in 1954 and when hosting the NCAA Championship at Fitzgerald Field House in 1957.[5] Peery 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 tournament in 1954, 1955, 1956, and 1960.

The wrestling room in Fitzgerald Field House

Between 1979 and 2013, Pitt's wrestling team was under the leadership of head coach Rande Stottlemyer, a three time All-American wrestler for Pitt in 1974, 1975, and 1978 and a five-time Coach of the Year (1986–87, 1989–90, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2011–12) in the Eastern Wrestling League, the wrestling conference Pitt competed in between 1976 and 2013.[6] Under his direction, Pitt produced 56 EWL individual EWL champions, 33 All-Americans, and 3 individual National Champions including Pat Santoro, a back-to-back champion at 142 lbs, and the 2008 champion at 174 lbs, Keith Gavin. In 2010, Stottlemyer guided Pitt to a school record 17 dual meet wins and an overall 17-1-1 record en route to the team capturing the Panthers' first-ever EWL dual-meet championship.[7] In 2011 and 2012, Pitt repeated as dual meet champions with 6-0 EWL records in each season.[8][9] Pitt went on to win its first EWL tournament team title in 2011[10] and repeated as EWL tournament champions in 2012[11] and 2013, Pitt's final year in the conference and Stottlemyer's final season as head coach.[12] Following the 2012–13 season, Stottlemyer retired after 34 years as Pitt's all-time winningest wrestling coach with a record of 304-230-12.[13]

Pitt moved into the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2013–14 season[14] with Jason Peters, an assistant under Stottleymyer for ten seasons, taking over as head coach until 2017.[13] In its first year of ACC competition, the wrestling team swept through its conference dual meet schedule with a perfect 6–0 record to capture the university's first regular season ACC title in any sport. Keith Gavin, a former national champion at 174lbs during his time at Pitt, is the current head coach.

Pitt wrestling has scored points in 65 NCAA Division I Championships over the years, finishing as high as second place twice and in the top ten 13 times.[15]

* In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic ended the wrestling season early and the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships were cancelled.[17] In the final released 2020 Division 1 team ranking of the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA), Pitt was ranked 8th in the nation,[18] while InterMat's final team rankings placed Pitt 16th in its Tournament rankings[19] and 10th in its Dual Meet rankings.[20] All-American selections are typically determined by an individual's finish among the top eight wrestlers in each weight class at the NCAA championship. In lieu of NCAA championship results, the NWCA used wrestler's overall body of work through the cancellation of the season to name All-Americans for the 2020 season.[21] Pitt's Mickey Phillipi (133 lbs) and Thomas Demetrius (heavyweight) were named as first team All-Americans,[22] while Jack Wentzel (165 lbs) and Nino Bonaccorsi (184 lbs) were named as Second Team All-Americans.[23] Only the first-team NWCA selections for 2020, which were listed as the top eight wrestlers in each weight class, are counted for the purposes of Pitt's total All-American selections in this article.

Pat Santoro was a four-time All-American and two-time national champion at 142 pounds

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.[24]

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

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[25]
• Ed Peery, wrestler, inducted 1980[26]
• Hugh Peery, wrestler, inducted 1980[27]

• Official website