Inside The Panthers

Pitt Wrestling Hires Lou Rosselli as Assistant Coach

The Pitt Panthers hired former Oklahoma head coach and U.S. Olympian Lou Rosselli as an assistant coach for the wrestling program.

Dominic Campbell

Oklahoma wrestling coach Lou Rosselli will take his 24th-ranked Sooners up against No. 12 Oklahoma
Oklahoma wrestling coach Lou Rosselli will take his 24th-ranked Sooners up against No. 12 Oklahoma / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers announced that they hired former Oklahoma head coach and U.S. Olympian Lou Rosselli as an assistant coach for the wrestling program.

Rosselli spent seven seasons as head coach of Oklahoma from 2016-23 before resigning from his position. He has almost 30 years of coaching experience in collegiate wrestling, as well as for Team USA.

He wrestled for Edinboro from 1989-93, earning two All-American honors at 118 pounds, including a third place finish in 1993.

Rosselli then would coach for Edinboro from 1995-2006, serving as a volunteer assistant the first three seasons and then as an asssisant the last eight.

While coaching, Rosselli also wrestled for Team USA at 54 killograms (119 pounds), winning national freestyle titles in 1995-96 and 1999, a gold medal at the 1997 World Cup in Stillwater, Okla. and two silver medals at the 1998 and 2000 Pan American Championships. He also competed at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Ga. for Team USA.

He moved on to Ohio State where he worked as an assistant from 2006-09 and then earned a promotion to associate head coach from 2009-16. He earned 2009 NWCA Assistant Coach of the Year honors and helped Ohio State with the NCAA Championships as a team in 2015.

Rosselli finished with a 56-49 dual record as head coach of the Sooners, including the 2021 Big 12 Team Title. He also coached 40 NCAA qualifiers, four All-Americans and Dom Demas, who won two Big 12 titles at 141 pounds.

“I would like to thank Keith Gavin and Heather Lyke for welcoming me to this incredible Pitt family,” Rosselli said in a press release. “I’m excited to work with this talented young team and coaching staff. I am also very much looking forward to working with Keith again. My wife is actually from the Pittsburgh area, and our boys are huge Pittsburgh sports fans, so my entire family is very excited for this opportunity.”

Panthers head coach Keith Gavin spent one season as an assitant coach under Rosselli and the two are now reunited to build the program into one of the best in the country.

"I am very excited to be adding Lou to our staff,” Gavin said in the press release. “Lou’s resume speaks for itself. He has coached and won at the highest levels of our sport. Lou was my personal coach during my time wrestling for Team USA and had a big impact on me, so I know firsthand what he will bring to our team. I am grateful that Lou has decided to come to Pittsburgh and join the Pitt wrestling family.”

Another connection for Rosselli at Pitt is in Anthony Santaniello, who originally committed to Oklahoma, before transferring to Pitt to join his brother, Vinnie Santaniello, after Rosselli resigned.

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Dominic Campbell

DOMINIC CAMPBELL

Follow Dominic Campbell on Twitter.