Pitt coach Stottlemyer remembered as class act
When word broke on Jan. 28 that former University of Pittsburgh wrestling coach Rande Stottlemyer had passed away, a myriad of tributes started popping up online.
Coach had been battling health issues for several years, and the problems were what ended his storied head-coaching stint at 34 years.
His entire adult life was spent at Pitt as he wrestled there and was named an All-American three times, was an assistant for one year, and took over the program where he is the winningest coach with 304 wins, was named the Eastern Wrestling League Coach of the Year five times, coached 56 EWL champions, 33 All-Americans and three national champions.
I immediately thought about his wife, Regina, as well as his four daughters: Rebecca, Tara, Jackie and Kelsey.
I had become familiar with the family as I covered the girls when they played soccer at Charleroi, and I helped with Charleroi’s softball team for two years when Jackie and Kelsey played.
After Coach retired, Rebecca, when she would be in town, and Tara would bring him to the Mon Valley YMCA so he could relax in the dry sauna.
While Coach would usually mind his own business and lay down in the sauna if no one else was in there, he would light up when I walked in and I always did the same.
He would sit up and we would instantly start talking about his two favorite sports topics: wrestling and the Pittsburgh Pirates.
I remember joking with him one time because I had worn a Penn State sweatshirt into the sauna.
“Would you like me to take it off,” I jokingly asked. He grinned and then chuckled before adding, “Their wrestling team is something else right now, so you can leave it on!”
He would talk about the current Pirates, teams of yesteryear, and especially Roberto Clemente.
It had been a while since I had seen Coach at the Y, and Rebecca shared with me around Christmas how her dad was doing.
After thinking about his family and my history with Coach, I thought about the number of wrestlers he coached, and the first one that popped into my mind was P.J. Tasser, a 2010 Belle Vernon Area graduate who I covered before he went to Pitt to wrestle for Stottlemyer.
Tasser, whose older brother Donnie was also on the Pitt wrestling team, shared his recruiting visit with Stottlemyer.
“Coach took me all over the campus to his favorite buildings and restaurants,” Tasser said. “He wanted me to see the amazing things that the university had to offer, both academically and in the community, before I even stepped foot in the wrestling room.
“The University of Pittsburgh was so much more to him than just a wrestling team and in all of my visits (to other schools), no one could match the passion that Stotty had for Pitt.
“I could see it in his expressions and hear it in his voice.”
Tasser talked about how Stottlemyer made the wrestling team a family, but that it was his second family.
“The only thing on this Earth that Coach loved more than Pitt was his family with his wife and four beautiful daughters,” Tasser said. “They were everything to him and it didn’t matter if we had a good or bad day on the mat, he was always looking in the stands for his fan club.
“They were his pride and joy, and he wasn’t afraid to let you know.”
Tasser, who earned bachelor degrees in both Legal Studies and in Professional Communications, shared how he will remember Stottlemyer.
“Coach will always have a special place in my heart as he refused to give up on me after an embarrassing freshman year and pushed me to work for whatever I wanted,” said Tasser, who is a medical device sales consultant for DePuy Synthes of Johnson & Johnson.
As a junior, an undersized Tasser was a win away from qualifying for the NCAA tournament at heavyweight during the Eastern Wrestling League Championships, and he shared the experience and provided a vintage look at Stottlemyer.
“I was facing an improbable task of qualifying and he pulled me aside before the third- and fourth-place match,” said Tasser, who weighed in at 188 while his opponent weighed 260 pounds. “The winner automatically qualified while the loser would have to wait for their fate from the selection committee.
“Coach said, ‘I bet you didn’t think you’d make it this far, huh,’ and I shook my head no.
“He patted me on the back and said, ‘Well, it’s time you start believing because I have believed in you since the moment you stepped foot in that (wrestling) circle. Now go out there and have some fun.'”
Tasser won in overtime with a takedown and advanced to the NCAA tournament.
Something else that Tasser shared about Coach, and many others did as well at the viewing, was that Stottlemyer treated everyone with respect.
“It didn’t matter if you were the custodian or the Chancellor of the University,” Tasser said proudly. “Coach Stotty took the time to get to know you and treated you as family.
“My teammates and I will always cherish the countless memories we shared with him, and I am the man I am today because of him.”
For those who knew Coach, even from brief encounters, it was obvious that he was a complete class act and will not be forgotten.
And for the countless wrestlers that he taught both wrestling and life lessons to, society is a better place because they learned how to be a man from a gentleman and a gentle man.