Rande Stottlemyer's strong ties and success in the sport of wrestling date back to his high school career at Hickory High School where he was a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state runner-up and a two-time Junior National Freestyle Champion.

After high school he did not stray far from home as he enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh. When his collegiate career ended he had become a three-time NCAA All-American and qualified all four years for the national tournament. Rande had a career record of 68-16-2 and won the 1976 Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) 134-pound title.

Following his 1978 graduation from the university, Rande served Pitt as an assistant coach for one year before taking over as head coach in 1979. He led the Panthers for 34 seasons and retired in 2013 as the winningest coach in program history (304-231-12).

Rande produced 56 EWL individual champions, 33 All-Americans and three national champions, two-time NCAA champ and four-time All-American Pat Santoro and NCAA champ and two-time finalist Keith Gavin.

He was selected the EWL Coach of the Year five times. His final four years as Pitt’s head coach ranked among the program’s finest. During that span, the Panthers won three EWL regular-season championships (2010, 2011, 2012) and three EWL Tournament titles (2011, 2012, 2013).

Pitt placed 15th in the nation in each of his final two seasons as head coach.

"Wrestling is a very grueling sport. And in order to be successful it takes an unusual amount of discipline and the ability to make a lot of personal sacrifices. It's a very combative sport and a battle of wills. Who's going to quit first? Your opponent may end up scoring more points than you, but it won't be because of a lack of effort or commitment. Don't give up, because then you lost more than a wrestling match."

Those words tell you more about Rande than any other.