The story behind college wrestling's winningest coach, Pat Pecora (Part 1)

Published: Feb. 21, 2020, 5:03 p.m.

Coach Pat Pecora took over as the head coach at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown in 1976. The program was in its third year and Pecora was a 20-something wet-behind-the-ears college graduate looking to teach and coach. On February 7, Pitt-Johnstown defeated Mercyhurst 22-12, giving Pecora his 617th all-time dual meet victory, breaking the mark set by former Oregon State coach Dale Thomas. Since the win, Pecora\u2019s added win No. 618 as the Mountain Cats head into the 2019-20 postseason. In the first part of this two-part interview with Coach Pat Pecora, college wrestling\u2019s winningest coach in history, he\u2019ll out line his origin story in the sport and the development of the UPJ program and coaching one of the sport\u2019s greats, Carlton Haselrig. He\u2019ll also talk about the old way of qualifying for the Division I tournament from Division II and Division III. 7in7 NCAA Kickoff PartyWe\u2019d like to let our listeners know about an NCAA Kickoff Party called \u201c7 in 7\u201d that will be co-hosted by Trackwrestling and JROB Intensive Wrestling Camps on Wednesday, March 18 at The Barn at Cowboy Jack's in Downtown Minneapolis. Emceed by Big Ten Network commentator Shane Sparks, the event will feature 7-minute interviews with 7 high-profile guests from the wrestling community. Dan Gable is the first booked guest, and more will be announced soon. Tickets are $15, and proceeds from the event will be donated to TakeDown Cancer. A limited number of tickets are available, so visit\xa07in7party.com\xa0soon to reserve your spot. If you'd like to SUPPORT THE SHOW and all the on-demand audio offerings, free newsletters and historical research AND you want to get some of that cool Compound gear, you can support this program by making a small monthly contribution to the network\xa0by following this link.. SUBSCRIBE TO ROKFIN, HELP THE NETWORKSubscribe to Rokfin, a content-creator driven news outlet with exclusive and dynamic content and know your subscription revenue goes to help the independent content creators, like Mat Talk Online. Sign up and endorse @mattalkonline at\xa0Rokfin.com/mattalkonline. The Short Time Time Wrestling Podcast is proudly supported by\xa0Compound Sportswear. And if you haven't already,\xa0leave a rating and a review on Apple Podcasts. SUBSCRIBE TO SHORT TIMEApple Podcasts\xa0|\xa0Stitcher\xa0|\xa0Spreaker\xa0|\xa0iHeartRadio\xa0|\xa0TuneIn\xa0|\xa0Google Podcasts\xa0|\xa0Spotify\xa0|\xa0iOS App\xa0|\xa0Android App\xa0|\xa0RSS