The former Pittsburgh Steelers professional bowler and six-time NCAA champion Carlton Haselrig died Wednesday.
The Tribune-Democrat reports that he collapsed at his Johnstown, Pennsylvania home on Wednesday morning and was pronounced dead about an hour later. Cambria County Coroner Jeffrey Lees told the newspaper he will perform an autopsy, but he believes the death is from natural causes. Haselrig was 54 years old.
Haselrig played in the NFL as a guard for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1990 to 1995, reaching the Pro Bowl in 1992. He is also a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Unprecedented fighting champion
Haselrig won a record six NCAA wrestling championships as a heavyweight for the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown. He won three Division II championships from 1987-89 and took advantage of a rule that also allowed lower division champions to participate in Division I championships.
He made the most of those opportunities, claiming the heavyweight championship in Division I for three consecutive years.
Her college wrestling coach Pat Pecora spoke to the Associated Press about Haselrig’s determination.
“Mentally he had a unique perspective, he just wasn’t intimidated,” said Pecora. “I didn’t know just because you went to a small school and you weren’t supposed to hit someone from a bigger school. To him that was like saying, this guy comes from a bigger house, he should hit you. I didn’t believe in that. “
Pecora said Haselrig’s health had been in decline in recent years.
Haselrig did not play college football
Haselrig did not play college football after suffering an injury as a freshman at Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania. He transferred to Pittsburgh-Johnstown, where he focused on wrestling, and the Steelers took a chance on him in the 12th round of the 1990 draft.
It was a success story for the Steelers, starting 47 games in five seasons as a right guard, but his career was cut short at age 29 due to a fight for substance abuse.
High school individual wrestling team
He was a local sports hero in Johnstown, where he earned a statewide wrestling title in 1984 despite being the only member of the Greater Johnstown High School wrestling team, who did not have a college wrestling program, according to the Tribune-Democrat. .
He returned to his hometown after his NFL career, where he died surrounded by his family.
“We are devastated by the loss of our husband, father, brother, uncle, nephew, cousin, and friend,” his wife Michelle Haselrig told The Tribune-Democrat. “She was my partner, my best friend, my everything.”
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