Carlton
Haselrig, a former Pittsburgh Steeler who had a brief mixed
martial arts tenure and a wildly successful NCAA wrestling career,
died Wednesday at the age of 54.
The
Johnstown Tribune-Democrat confirmed with the Cambria County
coroner that Haselrig died of natural causes. An autopsy will be
conducted, but friends of Haselrig revealed that he had been
suffering from liver disease.
Haselrig won an unprecedented six national championships — three in
Division II and three in Division I — for the University of
Pittsburgh at Johnstown. The NCAA has since changed the rules that
allow Division II and Division III champions the opportunity to
compete for the Division I title, meaning that Haselrig’s feat will
not be repeated.
Despite not having played football collegiately, he was drafted in
the 12th round by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1989. He went on to
play five seasons in the NFL, earning All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors
as a left guard in 1992.
Some 15 years after his retirement from pro football, Haselrig made
his MMA debut at Battle Cage Xtreme 4 on April 19, 2008, when he
scored a first-round TKO win over Shane Ott. His
next appearance came at EliteXC “Primetime,” where he shared a card
with the late Kimbo
Slice and defeated Carlos
Moreno via first-round corner stoppage.
“His athletic accomplishments were amazing — almost downright
impossible to think about,” Pat Pecora, Haselrig’s wrestling coach
at Pitt-Johnstown told the Tribune Democrat . “Carlton didn’t think
it was that big of a deal. That was the funny part. To him, he
wasn’t impressed with himself. He was so humble about his
accomplishments.”
Haselrig ended his MMA career with a 3-2 mark. His last bout was a
TKO defeat to former UFC talent Shawn
Jordan in June 2009.
“Can you image what he could have done if he was in his 20s?”
Pecora said. “He was doing MMA in his 40s, and he was winning.”