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Came across this wonderful tribute to the late, great Carlton Haselrig. It's a long read, but a great reflection on one of the most unique Steelers in history. It also reminded me of our rookie nose tackle Keeanu Benton, and his wrestling background.
From The Pin Doctors:
Carlton Haselrig; Johnstown HS (Pennsylvania)/University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown).
Since I put this page/site together 3 years ago, I have published thousands of articles and have in turn researched thousands of wrestlers. And out of all of the thousands of wrestlers I have researched in my day, I don’t think I’ve ever come across any athletic journey that was more unique than the one taken by Carlton Haselrig of Johnstown, PA. I mean, how do you win a HS state title competing for a team that doesn’t exist?! How do you win 6 total NCAA National Championships?! How do you win three NCAA Division 1 Titles when you wrestle for a D2 school? How do you get drafted by and later become a Pro-Bowler for an NFL team like the Pittsburgh Steelers when you hadn’t played a snap of football in a competitive game since high school? None of these scenarios are typically likely to happen for most athletes, yet Carlton Haselrig fits all of those criteria, as crazy as it sounds!
So when Carlton Haselrig was 5 years old, his uncle, Bruce Haselrig took him to his first ever wrestling tournament and according to Bruce, Carlton was sold on the sport the moment he noticed that wrestlers ate a lot of food right after weighing in. That’s what stuck out to him as a little kid when it came to his first impression of wrestling. Funny stuff… And he would continue to wrestle all the way through college!
In HS, Carlton would end up winning a PIAA State Championship as a Senior at class AAA HWT in 1984. In the finals, he defeated Joe Smith of Northern by the score of 10-7. It is a huge feather in the cap to win a state title in a wrestling-Mecca like Pennsylvania, but the unlikelihood of Haselrig ever accomplishing this was overwhelmingly ever-present at the time given the circumstances… I mean, the fact that Carlton Haselrig even had a wrestling career in HS was defeating the odds. This is because Johnstown HS eliminated their wrestling program when Carlton Haselrig was a Freshman in HS. The steel mills and coal mines were dying, and the budget had to be made to balance so they cut the program. And as of a couple weeks before the PIAA State Tournament during Carlton’s senior year, Johnstown still did not have a wrestling program... So how on Earth did Carlton Haselrig win the 1984 PIAA Class AAA 285 title for Johnstown HS?! Well, some representatives of Johnstown HS apparently persuaded the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association to accept the premise that it had revived wrestling with one athlete and no schedule during the regular season. It was a thinly disguised effort to smuggle Haselrig into the PIAA's postseason competition. And it worked…The PIAA office told him Haselrig had to have at least three weeks of practice and conditioning and then the school district had to agree to sponsor a wrestling team. Haselrig practiced all season with the Westmont-Hilltop wrestling team and worked against unbeaten beavyweight Bob Fleck, a top contender in Class AA. And while Carlton was working out with them, his uncle Bruce and his wrestling coach, Damian Zamias persuaded the members of the district to sponsor a "paper" team and he was set to go! With that said, without having wrestled a single match in a dual meet all season, Carlton Haselrig won the 1984 PIAA district and regional championships and then went to the PIAA State Tournament and won that as well. He literally represented his entire team that year.
Haselrig was the 1985 Junior Greco-Roman World Champion, and the 1986 Junior Freestyle World Champion, while competing for the United States in the heavyweight division.
Haselrig also played football at Johnstown HS where he was a nose tackle and offensive guard and made the Big 33 Game roster. At the college level, Carlton Haselrig initially committed to play football for Lock Haven…making the fact that he would later become a 6X NCAA Champion wrestler at the college level even more logic-defying. Carlton injured his knee very early in his collegiate football campaign as a Freshman and because of that, he decided to transfer to Division 2 School, The University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown where he joined the wrestling team. He finished 3rd at HWT his Freshman year at the 1986 NCAA Division II National Tournament. And from that point on, all he ever did in the postseason was win… literally… and at multiple levels. Carlton Haselrig won 6 total NCAA titles in Division I and Division II in his sophomore, junior and senior seasons in 1987, 1988, and 1989. He won 3 in Division 2, 3 in Division 1. And how was he able to do that?! Because before 1990, the Divisions 2 and 3’s individual national champions earned bids to compete at the Division I championships… With that said, when Carlton won all 3 of his D2 titles, it punched his tickets to the Division 1 NCAA National Tournament… and he won Division 1 Nationals all 3 years as well! Amazing!
Carlton Haselrig finished his collegiate wrestling career with a record of 143-2-1, including an, at the time, NCAA-record 122 consecutive matches without a loss. He never lost a match at the NCAA Division I meet, going 15-0 at the heavyweight class in the 1987, 1988 and 1989 tournaments. While in college, Haselrig would also defeat future NCAA and Olympic champion Kurt Angle. After Haselrig's run of NCAA titles, the Division I Wrestling Committee voted to rescind the bids to the Division II and III champions. As a result, Haselrig's feat cannot be matched unless the rule is changed again.
After college, Carlton Haselrig continued his pattern of accomplishing feats that don’t normally seem logically possible in sports he wasn’t even expected to play anymore. With that said, despite never having played football in college, Haselrig was drafted in the 12th round by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 313th overall pick! He became a Pro Bowl offensive guard in his third NFL season of 1992, a year where he also helped the Steelers win the 1992 AFC Central Division title. Haselrig played for a few years with the Steelers and concluded his NFL career by playing one season with the New York Jets.
In the 2000’s, Carlton started competing a bit in MMA and would finish with a 3-2 record before retiring in 2009.
Sadly, Carlton Haselrig passed away in 2020 from liver disease. He was one of at least 345 NFL players to be diagnosed after death with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is caused by repeated hits to the head.
One of the most truly unique sports careers I’ve ever heard of. What a legend.
From The Pin Doctors:
Carlton Haselrig; Johnstown HS (Pennsylvania)/University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown).
Since I put this page/site together 3 years ago, I have published thousands of articles and have in turn researched thousands of wrestlers. And out of all of the thousands of wrestlers I have researched in my day, I don’t think I’ve ever come across any athletic journey that was more unique than the one taken by Carlton Haselrig of Johnstown, PA. I mean, how do you win a HS state title competing for a team that doesn’t exist?! How do you win 6 total NCAA National Championships?! How do you win three NCAA Division 1 Titles when you wrestle for a D2 school? How do you get drafted by and later become a Pro-Bowler for an NFL team like the Pittsburgh Steelers when you hadn’t played a snap of football in a competitive game since high school? None of these scenarios are typically likely to happen for most athletes, yet Carlton Haselrig fits all of those criteria, as crazy as it sounds!
So when Carlton Haselrig was 5 years old, his uncle, Bruce Haselrig took him to his first ever wrestling tournament and according to Bruce, Carlton was sold on the sport the moment he noticed that wrestlers ate a lot of food right after weighing in. That’s what stuck out to him as a little kid when it came to his first impression of wrestling. Funny stuff… And he would continue to wrestle all the way through college!
In HS, Carlton would end up winning a PIAA State Championship as a Senior at class AAA HWT in 1984. In the finals, he defeated Joe Smith of Northern by the score of 10-7. It is a huge feather in the cap to win a state title in a wrestling-Mecca like Pennsylvania, but the unlikelihood of Haselrig ever accomplishing this was overwhelmingly ever-present at the time given the circumstances… I mean, the fact that Carlton Haselrig even had a wrestling career in HS was defeating the odds. This is because Johnstown HS eliminated their wrestling program when Carlton Haselrig was a Freshman in HS. The steel mills and coal mines were dying, and the budget had to be made to balance so they cut the program. And as of a couple weeks before the PIAA State Tournament during Carlton’s senior year, Johnstown still did not have a wrestling program... So how on Earth did Carlton Haselrig win the 1984 PIAA Class AAA 285 title for Johnstown HS?! Well, some representatives of Johnstown HS apparently persuaded the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association to accept the premise that it had revived wrestling with one athlete and no schedule during the regular season. It was a thinly disguised effort to smuggle Haselrig into the PIAA's postseason competition. And it worked…The PIAA office told him Haselrig had to have at least three weeks of practice and conditioning and then the school district had to agree to sponsor a wrestling team. Haselrig practiced all season with the Westmont-Hilltop wrestling team and worked against unbeaten beavyweight Bob Fleck, a top contender in Class AA. And while Carlton was working out with them, his uncle Bruce and his wrestling coach, Damian Zamias persuaded the members of the district to sponsor a "paper" team and he was set to go! With that said, without having wrestled a single match in a dual meet all season, Carlton Haselrig won the 1984 PIAA district and regional championships and then went to the PIAA State Tournament and won that as well. He literally represented his entire team that year.
Haselrig was the 1985 Junior Greco-Roman World Champion, and the 1986 Junior Freestyle World Champion, while competing for the United States in the heavyweight division.
Haselrig also played football at Johnstown HS where he was a nose tackle and offensive guard and made the Big 33 Game roster. At the college level, Carlton Haselrig initially committed to play football for Lock Haven…making the fact that he would later become a 6X NCAA Champion wrestler at the college level even more logic-defying. Carlton injured his knee very early in his collegiate football campaign as a Freshman and because of that, he decided to transfer to Division 2 School, The University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown where he joined the wrestling team. He finished 3rd at HWT his Freshman year at the 1986 NCAA Division II National Tournament. And from that point on, all he ever did in the postseason was win… literally… and at multiple levels. Carlton Haselrig won 6 total NCAA titles in Division I and Division II in his sophomore, junior and senior seasons in 1987, 1988, and 1989. He won 3 in Division 2, 3 in Division 1. And how was he able to do that?! Because before 1990, the Divisions 2 and 3’s individual national champions earned bids to compete at the Division I championships… With that said, when Carlton won all 3 of his D2 titles, it punched his tickets to the Division 1 NCAA National Tournament… and he won Division 1 Nationals all 3 years as well! Amazing!
Carlton Haselrig finished his collegiate wrestling career with a record of 143-2-1, including an, at the time, NCAA-record 122 consecutive matches without a loss. He never lost a match at the NCAA Division I meet, going 15-0 at the heavyweight class in the 1987, 1988 and 1989 tournaments. While in college, Haselrig would also defeat future NCAA and Olympic champion Kurt Angle. After Haselrig's run of NCAA titles, the Division I Wrestling Committee voted to rescind the bids to the Division II and III champions. As a result, Haselrig's feat cannot be matched unless the rule is changed again.
After college, Carlton Haselrig continued his pattern of accomplishing feats that don’t normally seem logically possible in sports he wasn’t even expected to play anymore. With that said, despite never having played football in college, Haselrig was drafted in the 12th round by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 313th overall pick! He became a Pro Bowl offensive guard in his third NFL season of 1992, a year where he also helped the Steelers win the 1992 AFC Central Division title. Haselrig played for a few years with the Steelers and concluded his NFL career by playing one season with the New York Jets.
In the 2000’s, Carlton started competing a bit in MMA and would finish with a 3-2 record before retiring in 2009.
Sadly, Carlton Haselrig passed away in 2020 from liver disease. He was one of at least 345 NFL players to be diagnosed after death with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is caused by repeated hits to the head.
One of the most truly unique sports careers I’ve ever heard of. What a legend.
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