UPJ's Pat Pecora, college wrestling's winningest coach, keeps climbing

Last Friday at Pitt-Johnstown, Pat Pecora did something he never thought would’ve been possible when he started coaching wrestling 44 years ago.

With several alumni in attendance, Pecora’s No. 4-ranked Mountain Cats defeated No. 11-ranked Mercyhurst, 22-12, and the longtime UPJ coach earned his 617th career win, making him college wrestling’s all-time wins leader as he passed former Oregon State coach Dale Thomas’s mark of 616.

“It’s been a bit overwhelming, and it’s a little hard to believe,” Pecora said. “It’s a bit of a whirlwind with all of the attention that’s been brought to it, but it’s something I’m enjoying and I’m trying to enjoy the moment. It’s something we’ve worked hard at, and it’s an unbelievable feeling.”

Before Pecora climbed to the top of the NCAA dual meet wins list, he came from humble beginnings, both at UPJ and at home in Pittsburgh. Growing up, he remembered wrestling with his brothers in the family room. He and his two brothers would push the furniture up against the wall and reenact the moves of Bruno Sammartino, Johnny DeFazio and others.

Then, Pecora’s older brother Richie started to wrestle, and Pat quickly caught on. As soon as he had the opportunity, he joined the sport as well.

“He started taking me to some practices with him,” Pecora said. “So the first thing I did when I got to high school was go out for the wrestling team because of my brothers.”

After his high school career, Pecora went on to wrestle at West Liberty State College, where he had a successful career. But as soon as he was done with college, he jumped right into his future career.

His first coaching job happened in the WPIAL. He discovered an opening at East Allegheny through his uncle, Frank Cortazzo, who was the football coach and the athletic director at the time. Pecora only coached at the high school level for a year before being hired at UPJ at age 22.

“My buddy had seen an ad in the paper for a wrestling coach, and I had known about the college through wrestling in college,” Pecora said. “I didn’t know it at the time, so it was kinda weird, but I put a resume in the mail and before you know it, I got a phone call. One interview turned into another and all of a sudden, I’m up here in Johnstown.”

In Pecora’s first year at the helm, the Mountain Cats only had five wrestlers, so Pecora said he pulled his first recruiting class out of the school’s cafeteria.

“I would sit in the cafeteria and try to find guys coming in with high school wrestling shirts,” Pecora said.

Slowly but surely, the program started to gain traction. They went 4-12 in his first year, but after bringing in his first recruiting class, the Mountain Cats went 12-4 in his second year going up against the same schedule. From there, he said they’ve never really looked back.

“We used to practice on a stage, then we had a small gym for a couple years, then we practiced off campus for a couple years,” Pecora said. “So we’ve come from very humble beginnings. We came from the bottom. We’ve been on a long journey to get where we’re at.”

Just like any program, UPJ has its’ keys to success, and Pecora believes it comes down to the type of family that they’ve established.

The Pittsburgh native said he always tells people that when he started coaching, he didn’t really have a set philosophy. He developed one on the fly and leaned on his core family values.

“I grew up in a very close-knit family and I coached the way that my mother and father raised their children,” he said. “I felt if I was a good coach, my wrestlers would be close, and they’d be willing to work for each other, and they’d be happy with helping someone else succeed.”

Pecora described his coaching philosophy as having a few stages. In the early parts of his career, it was the older-brother stage, then it turned into the young-uncle stage. Now, in his 44th year, Pecora says he believes he’s still in the father phase of his career.

“Now, I only got one stage left,” Pecora said with a laugh.

The coaching style and culture that Pecora has built continues to pay dividends year after year. During his time at UPJ, Pecora has been named NWCA Coach of the Year three times. He’s led the Mountain Cats to NCAA Division II national championships in 1996 and ’99.

UPJ has also captured 22 NCAA regional titles and four consecutive PSAC team championships under Pecora. Also, the Mountain Cats are 20-3 overall this season and 6-0 in PSAC contests. So with all the success that Pecora has produced over last four and a half decades, what’s next?

“We’re just gonna keep climbing and see if we can keep getting better every day,” Pecora said. “That’s what it’s all about. That’s what life is all about.”