Former Olympian, Oklahoma coach joins Pitt staff
Keith Gavin and the Pitt wrestling program made a big splash on Thursday with the announcement that former Olympian and Oklahoma head coach Lou Rosselli is joining the Panthers as an assistant coach.
Gavin’s staff already includes assistants Drew Headlee and Luke Pletcher.
Despite having served as a head coach and an associate head coach, Rosselli is not worried about a title.
“I just want to coach wrestling,” he told Panther-Lair. “I like wrestling enough. Let me do my role. If it’s getting the right guys, training the right way, it’s wrestling. I don’t get crazy over who’s in charge. As long as we’re all on the same page, let’s do it.
While Gavin brings a quiet confidence to the staff, one conversation with Rosselli reveals his passion for recruiting and developing wrestlers.
“It’s way different than when you’re in charge,” he said. “I like that role. You want me to make sure he wins? OK.”
Rosselli led the Sooners to the Big 12 title in 2021 but resigned in 2023 after going 56-49 in dual meets. In seven seasons, he coached 48 NCAA qualifiers and four All-Americans. Prior to that, he helped Ohio State capture the 2015 NCAA team title in his role as associate head coach. The Buckeyes also finished second twice while he was an assistant. During his time in Columbus, he coached Olympic gold medalist and three-time NCAA champion Kyle Snyder, four-time NCAA champ Logan Stieber and two-time national titlist J Jaggers.
“I’ve known Lou for a long time. He coached me at one point, so I know what kind of impact it’s going to make,” Gavin said of the hire. “Lou was an Olympian himself. He’s wrestled at the highest level and coached at the highest level. He knows what it looks like.”
After winning an NCAA title wrestling for Pitt in 2008, Gavin competed for the Ohio Regional Training Center under Rosselli, who put five athletes – J.D. Bergman, Tervel Dlagnev, Angel Escobedo, Reece Humphrey and Gavin – on the seven-member world team in 2013.
“He’s got a lot of passion and energy for the sport,” Gavin said. “From a coaching standpoint, in the room, he was great for me, hammering the fundamentals.”
Gavin later served as an assistant to Rosselli at Oklahoma before accepting the Pitt position in 2017.
Rosselli is happy to return the favor.
“I think it’s great,” he said. “Obviously, Keith has done a fantastic job. We go back a while. I coached him in Ohio. I brought him to OU. We flip-flopped a little bit. We both know our expectations. We’re both competitive. We’re both in the same zone. We know how hard we have to train to get it right.”
Rosselli was honored as the National Wrestling Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year in 2009 and the USA Wrestling Freestyle Coach of the Year in 2014. He helped coach the U.S. freestyle team in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games.
After wrestling in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta at 114.5 pounds, Rosselli won the 1997 World Cup and finished second at the 1998 Pan-Am championships.
A two-time All-American at Edinboro, the native of Middleport, N.Y., brings a winning mindset with him wherever he goes.
“That rubs off on everybody,” Rosselli said. “When you have the right mindset, everyone’s expectations are high. We don’t talk about winning. It’s just expected.”
During his time at Oklahoma, five of his six recruiting classes were ranked in the top 20 by FloWrestling. His 2018 recruiting class was sixth nationally, headlined by North Allegheny graduate Jake Woodley, while Seneca Valley grad Alejandro Herrera-Rondon led the 2022 class, which ranked ninth nationally.
Rosselli also recruited Anthony Santaniello to Oklahoma, although the New Jersey product ended up joining his brother Vinnie on the Panthers’ roster after Rosselli’s resignation.
“Recruiting Oklahoma is a much different place than Pitt. He’s got ties to Ohio, which is one of our recruiting areas,” Gavin said. “I think he has a good eye. We’re going to be very aligned in what we’re looking for. He’s a grinder. He’s going to work hard in every aspect, not just in recruiting. We’re similar in that way.”
Rosselli’s addition to the staff will help Gavin in a variety of ways.
“Bringing him to Pitt, we needed someone who had that experience, I guess,” Gavin said. “I’m not going to have to ask him to go recruit. He’s going to be able to take the ball and run with it, which frees me up to put more time in with guys, to recruit and to fundraise, which are the three things that we’re going to do.”
Rosselli didn’t need to do much to sell his family on the move.
“My family loves Pittsburgh,” he said. “My wife (Amy) is from Chartiers Houston. They love the Steelers, all that. We’re sports people. We follow the hockey, the football, the baseball.”
The couple has three sons: Jordan, who is about to graduate law school; Tyler, who has one semester remaining in college; and Jaxson, who will be a freshman at Ohio State in the fall.
Jake Wentzel departs
Jake Wentzel, a 2021 NCAA runner-up for Pitt, has left the program after two seasons on the Panthers coaching staff.
“We love Jake, and he’s been great to us,” Gavin said. “He has two master’s degrees from Pitt. I think long-term, he was looking to get into the business world.”
Incoming transfers
Next season’s roster should include at least three additions with Division I experience. Evan Tallmadge, who last season went 6-4 at 125 pounds – including an 8-3 victory over Colton Camacho in Pitt’s dual meet loss to Navy – is already enrolled in summer classes.
The No. 71 recruit in the 2022 class, Tallmadge was a teammate of Pitt’s Vinnie and Anthony Santaniello at Brick Memorial High School, where Tallmadge won a pair of New Jersey state titles.
He could be the starter at 125 pounds next season or possibly at 133, as Vinnie Santaniello recently underwent shoulder surgery and could miss the first semester.
Another New Jersey native joining the program is Nick Babin. He went 45-34 in three seasons at Columbia, including a 2-2 performance at the 2023 NCAA tournament. A 125-pounder, Babin has one remaining year of eligibility.
Tallmadge and Babin join Tyler Chappell as 125-pounders on the Pitt roster.
Chase Kranitz, a Norwin graduate who went 26-14 as a redshirt freshman at Buffalo last season, is also joining the Panthers. Kranitz placed third in the MAC at 184 pounds.
Outgoing transfers
Colton Camacho announced on social media that he is joining the Edinboro team as a grad transfer student. Camacho went 11-12 at 125 last season for Pitt and 54-37 during his five years in Oakland.
He’ll join Ryan Michaels, who went 15-5 in open tournaments during the 2022-23 season but was removed from Pitt’s roster, as a transfer to Edinboro. Michaels went 0-2 at 149 last season.
Brock McMillen, who drew rave reviews during his redshirt freshman season in 2021-22, is transferring to Pitt-Johnstown. McMillen went 16-9 in open tournaments during his career at Pitt but struggled to stay healthy.