Pat Pecora Johnstown PA Death – Pat Pecora, a resident of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and the All-Time Winningest Coach in college wrestling has sadly passed away. He was announced dead through a social media publication that read:
“To those who knew him Pat Pecora lost his battle with cancer today at noon EST. May he rest in peace and may God provide comfort and solace to the family he left behind. Till we meet again.”
Who was Pat Pecora?
Pat Pecora of Pitt-Johnstown became the all-time winningest collegiate wrestling coach on February 7, 2020, surpassing all other coaches from the NAIA and junior college.
After a successful wrestling career at West Liberty State (WV) College, Pecora became the head coach of the Mountain Cat wrestling program in 1976. Since 2008, he has also served as Pitt-Johnstown’s athletic director.
Pecora owns the record for the most wins in college wrestling with 661 after 48 seasons at Pitt-Johnstown. On February 7, 2020, Pecora’s fourth-ranked Mountain Cats defeated 11th-ranked Mercyhurst 22–12, earning him his 617th career victory and shattering a 46-year-old record to become college wrestling’s all-time winningest coach. He has a 661-154-5 career record and a.807 career winning percentage going into the 2024–25 season.
Pecora has guided Pitt-Johnstown to two NCAA Division II National Championships, 25 NCAA Regional titles, and eight consecutive Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships.
Pecora was named the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) National Coach of the Year in 1995, 1999, 2019, and 2022. From 2003 to 2007, his teams won five straight NCAA Regional titles; from 1992 to 2001, they won 10 straight. Pecora has received 22 nominations for NCAA Regional Coach of the Year.
Pat Pecora Achievement
Additionally, Pecora’s teams have achieved 24 Top-10, 11 Top-5, and 38 Top-20 national finishes. Pecora has trained 15 individual national winners and 170 All-Americans, who together have won 23 championships.
From 1997 to 2000, his teams won the most academic titles in the country when it came to NWCA All-Academic Wrestling Team choices. Pecora has coached almost 200 members of the NWCA All-Academic Wrestling Team since 1990.
His teams won the first and second NCAA Division II National Championships in the history of the school in 1996 and 1999, respectively. In 1999, Pecora was awarded the National Wrestling Coaches Association Coaching Excellence Award, which goes to the top coach in every level, in addition to the National Coach of the Year title.
The 2023–24 NWCA Bob Bubb Excellence in Coaching Award winner Pecora also served as the coach of the National All-Star Team, which included the top wrestlers in the country across all weight classes.
Pat Pecora Inductions
Pecora served as the NWCA’s president for two terms and is currently a member of the board of directors. The nine halls of fame that Pecora has been inducted into are the following: the Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame of NCAA Division II, the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame (2001), the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame-East Boro Chapter (1994), the Cambria County Sports Hall of Fame (1998), the Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame (2017), the Pitt-Johnstown Athletics Hall of Fame (2015), and the Western Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame (2016). Pecora and his spouse, Tracy, have eight grandchildren in addition to their four grown children, Nico, Cristina, Marco, and Marina.