Ex-Steeler, mat great Haselrig dead at 54
PITTSBURGH — Carlton Haselrig, a Pro Bowl right guard for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the early 1990s who is also the only wrestler in NCAA history to win six individual national championships, died Wednesday. He was 54.
Pat Pecora, who coached Haselrig to heavyweight division championships at both the NCAA Division II and Division I levels in the 1980s at the Pittsburgh-Johnstown, said Haselrig had been in declining health in recent years. The school said in a statement that Haselrig's death was due to natural causes.
Haselrig, who didn't play a down of college football after suffering an injury during his freshman year at Lock Haven, spent five years in the NFL after the Steelers took him in the 12th round of the 1990 draft. His career was cut short in the mid-1990s due to a battle with alcohol and substance abuse. He dabbled in mixed martial arts in the late 2000s, going 3-2 before retiring.
Born in Johnstown, about an hour east of Pittsburgh, the 6-foot-1, 295-pound Haselrig attempted to play college football for Lock Haven before transferring to his hometown college. Athletic and exceptionally fast for his size, Haselrig put together a run unprecedented in NCAA history.
Haselrig captured the Division II titles in 1987, 1988 and 1989. NCAA rules at the time permitted individual champions in the lower divisions to compete in the Division I championships. Haselrig won the Division I title each year, leading to the formation of what became known as the “Haselrig Rule” that prevented lower division wrestlers from competing in Division I. At one point Haselrig won 122 consecutive matches.
“We accomplished something that might never be broken,” Pecora said.
Asked what made Haselrig excel, Pecora stressed it wasn't just Haselrig's immense physical gifts.
“Mentally he just had a unique outlook, he just wasn't intimidated,” Pecora said. “He didn't know that just because you went to a small school you weren't supposed to beat someone from a bigger school.”
