Pitt-Johnstown's Pecora notches win No. 500 as Mountain Cats topple Shippensburg

Pat Pecora, long-time University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown head wrestling coach, tallied his 500th career win in leading his Mountain Cats to a 39-3 win over Shippensburg University in Shippensburg, Pa. Tuesday night.

Pecora's milestone win is one for the history books. He becomes the first NCAA Division II wrestling coach to earn 500 victories, and only the sixth college mat coach in any division to break that barrier.

“I just think about all the young men that have come through our program,” Pecora told Eric Knopsnyder of the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat after acheiving No. 500. “I’m just so proud of them. I’m so proud of the kind of young men the program produces. Because after you’re here for five years, you’re a good one.”

In that same interview, Pecora, 58, said he has no plans to retire, and, in fact, hopes to hit win No. 600. Only one other coach had done that: the late Dale Thomas, who coached at Oregon State from 1957-1990.

Since Pecora took the helm at Pitt-Johnstown in 1976, his Mountain Cats have won two D2 national team titles (1996, 1999) and claimed 20 NCAA Regional Championships. He has coached 129 NCAA All-Americans and ten individual national champs. What's more, Pecora has coached 90 NWCA (National Wrestling Coaches Association) All-Academic Wrestling Team members.

Want to know more...?

• ... about coach Pat Pecora, check out Eric Knopsnyder's story for the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat ... and his biography at the official Pitt-Johnstown wrestling website.
• ... about the all-time winningest college mat coaches, take a look at the list posted at College Wrestling Examiner's College Wrestling 101 feature. (Note that the list has not been updated because Examiner.com stories from that time cannot be edited.)
• ... about the the UPJ-Shippensburg dual, there's the Tribune-Democrat article... and the report from the UPJ website, which includes weight-by-weight scores.