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Lou Rosselli named 2016 Terry McCann Award winner as USA Wrestling Freestyle Coach of the Year

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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling

Olympic coach Lou Rosselli hugs Olympic champion Kyle Snyder after his gold-medal victory in Rio. Photo by Tony Rotundo, Wrestlers Are Warriors


Lou Rosselli (Norman, Okla./New York AC) has been named 2016 Terry McCann Freestyle Coach of the Year by USA Wrestling. It is the third time that Rosselli has won this prestigious award, to go along with his 2007 and 2013 Freestyle Coach of the Year honor.


Rosselli served as an official coach for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Freestyle Wrestling Team. The USA was led by a pair of medalists, champion Kyle Snyder at 97 kg and bronze medalist J’den Cox at 86 kg.


Rosselli was the personal coach of Olympic champion Kyle Snyder and two-time Olympian Tervel Dlagnev, who placed fifth at 125 kg/275 lbs.


Rosselli is a coach with the nationally respected New York Athletic Club. Prior to the 2016 Olympics, he was the head coach at the Ohio Regional Training Center, one of the nation’s most successful freestyle RTCs.


After the conclusion of the Olympic Games, Rosselli accepted a new position as the head wrestling coach at the University of Oklahoma, and led the Sooner team during the 2016-17 NCAA Div. I season.


Prior to that, Rosselli served as the Associate Head Coach at The Ohio State University, working on the staff with head coach Tom Ryan for 10 seasons. He was instrumental in helping the Buckeyes win its first NCAA Div. I national title in 2015, plus NCAA runner-up finishes in 2008 and 2009. While at OSU, he coached four-time NCAA champion Logan Stieber and two-time NCAA champion J Jaggers.


In freestyle, Lou Rosselli was also a 2012 Olympic coach and helped lead the USA to three individual medalists, champions Jordan Burroughs and Jake Varner and bronze medalist Coleman Scott. The USA was third in the unofficial standings.


Rosselli has coached numerous U.S. Senior World Teams, including the 2015 U.S. World Team, which won three medals, including two champions in Las Vegas, Nev.. He was a 2013 U.S. World Team Coach, helping lead the USA to a fifth-place finish in Budapest, Hungary. Rosselli served as a 2011 U.S. World Team Coach in Istanbul, Turkey, which finished third in the team standings. Rosselli also served as a 2007 U.S. World Team Coach, helping lead the United States to a fourth place finish. He also served as a World Team Coach for the 2006 U.S. Freestyle World Team, which placed third as a team in Guangzhou, China.


In 2013, Rosselli coached an amazing five athletes on the U.S. World Team, Dlagnev plus Angel Escobedo at 55 kg, Reece Humphrey at 60 kg, Keith Gavin at 84 kg and J.D. Bergman at 96 kg. He also had three members on the 2015 U.S. World Team, Snyder, Dlagnev and Humphrey.


He was the assistant coach of the 2005 U.S. World University Games Team, which placed third in the team standings with three individual gold medalists in Izmir, Turkey. He also coached the 2010 U.S. World University Championships team in Torino, Italy. He was also a coach for the U.S. team at the 2009 Pan American Championships. Rosselli has also coached a number of other U.S. teams on international tours.


As a college coach, prior to joining Ohio State, he served 11 seasons as an assistant coach at Edinboro Univ., eight years as a full-time assistant and three years as a volunteer assistant. Rosselli has helped build the Scotsmen into a nationally competitive program on the Div. I level.


Rosselli competed at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga., at 114.5 pounds. He was a 1997 World Cup champion, and won a silver medal at the 1998 Pan American Championships. He won U.S. National freestyle titles three times (1995, 1996, 1999) and was second in the 1998 U.S. Nationals. Rosselli was also a University Nationals freestyle champion in 1994.


Rosselli placed third at the 1993 NCAA Championships and was fourth in the 1991 NCAA Championships for Edinboro Univ. A native of Middleport, N.Y., Rosselli was a two-time New York state champion at Royalton-Hartland High School.


This award is named after the late wrestling legend Terry McCann, a 1960 Olympic champion wrestler. McCann was a long-time coach with the successful Mayor Daley Youth Foundation club, which won numerous national titles in freestyle and Greco-Roman and produced champion athletes for the United States. McCann also served as USA Wrestling President and a United World Wrestling Bureau member.

PAST TERRY McCANN AWARD WINNERS AS FREESTYLE COACH OF THE YEAR

2016 - Lou Rosselli, Norman, Okla., New York AC

2015 – Mark Manning, Lincoln, Neb., Nebraska RTC

2014 – Terry Brands, Iowa City, Iowa, Hawkeye WC

2013 - Lou Rosselli, Columbus, Ohio, New York AC

2012 – Cael Sanderson, State College, Pa., Nittany Lion WC

2011 – Mark Manning, Lincoln, Neb., Sunkist Kids

2010 - Sean Bormet, Naperville, Ill., New York AC

2009 – John Smith, Stillwater, Okla., Gator WC

2008 - Sean Bormet, Naperville, Ill., New York AC

2007 - Lou Rosselli, Columbus, Ohio, New York AC

2006 - Sean Bormet, Naperville, Ill., New York AC

2005 - Mike Duroe, Iowa City, Iowa, Hawkeye TC

2004 - Bobby Douglas, Ames, Iowa, Sunkist Kids

2003 - Tom Brands, Iowa City, Iowa, Hawkeye WC

2002 - Tom Brands, Iowa City, Iowa, Hawkeye WC

2001 - Zeke Jones, Morgantown, W.Va., Sunkist Kids

2000 - John Smith, Stillwater, Okla., Sunkist Kids

1999 - Greg Strobel, Bethlehem, Pa., New York Athletic Club

1998 - John Smith, Stillwater, Okla., Sunkist Kids

1997 - Greg Strobel, Bethlehem, Pa., New York Athletic Club

1996 - Bruce Burnett, Colorado Springs, Colo., National Freestyle Coach

1995 - Bruce Burnett, Colorado Springs, Colo., National Freestyle Coach

1994 - Gene Davis, Colorado Springs, Colo., Athletes In Action

1993 - Joe Seay, Oklahoma City, Okla., Sunkist Kids

1992 - Bobby Douglas, Ames, Iowa, Sunkist Kids

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