Hard work got Rosselli to Olympics
This is the second in a series looking at Class of 2009 inductees into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame. The ceremony is scheduled for Oct. 29 at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo.
When Lou Rosselli told his high school wrestling coach, Dick Lang, he would be in the Olympics some day, Lang had an unusual reaction. He believed him.
Lang knew the Royalton-Hartland senior's work ethic: up at dawn during the season's winter months going on 5-mile runs around Middleport before school. He outworked everyone at practice, and then went home and rode a stationary bike and lifted weights.
Rosselli qualified for the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team in the Atlanta Games, but his dream for a medal was cut short when he broke his arm in three places during a win in the trials and had to withdraw.
"He would say to me he was going to the Olympics. I encouraged him to say that. I said, "I believe you will.' I started teaching him in fifth grade in Roy-Hart junior wrestling. It was Lou and his two brothers. I hate to say it, but the youngest one is usually pretty good. Lou was the youngest."
Rosselli will be recognized for a journey that has taken him from Roy-Hart to the Olympic team when he is enshrined into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame on Oct. 29.
As a high school athlete, he qualified for the New York State championships four consecutive years, winning twice. He was the state champion at 98 pounds in 1986 and the 1988 winner at 112. A five-year varsity wrestler, and a four-time Section VI champion, he finished with a record of 156-8, including 37-0 his senior year.
Rosselli continued his career at Edinboro State, where he was a two-time All-American (1991 and '93) and three-time Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference champion at 118 pounds before graduating in 1993.
He captured U.S. Open championships in 1995, '96 and '99.
After competing until he was 30 years old, he went on to become an accomplished college coach. After 11-seasons at Edinboro, he moved to Ohio State University in 2006. Today he works mostly with the lightweight classes. OSU was the NCAA runner-up in 2009.
Rosselli also coached on the international level, helping the U.S. National Team to a second-place finish at the 2009 Pan American Championships in Maracaibo, Venezuela.
"Lou is one of the most knowledgeable coaches in the nation," said Ohio State head coach Tom Ryan. "His years of college coaching, combined with world class international experience, make him priceless to our program."
Rosselli has received several honors during his coaching career, including the 2007 Terry McCann Award, USA Wrestling's Freestyle Coach of the Year.
Rosselli said words like character, discipline and commitment have always been a part of his wrestling inner circle. It's his message whether he's putting on a summer clinic for Middleport youngsters or working with NCAA Division I athletes at Ohio State.
"Those type of words are still important. They still hold true," said Rosselli, who has competed in more than 20 countries. "The people that support you, they give you something to cling to. The standard is to be your very best. That's just what you do."
Rosselli lives in Powell, Ohio, with his wife and three sons.
For ticket information e-mail melissa.gearhart@hyatt.com, call Gearhart at 855-4863 or visit GBSHOF.com.
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