It's Troy's horse now
Troy Sunderland replaces John Fritz as wrestling coach

On Aug. 1 Nittany Lion All-American wrestler Troy Sunderland replaced wrestling coach John Fritz, who resigned June 8 because of personal, physical and professional reasons and accepted a position as an administrator.

Fritz, who led the Lions to an 18-3 record last year and a No. 3 national ranking, said he was unable to spend enough time with his daughters, Jessica and Meghan.

Sunderland said his first task as head coach will be to seek his assistant coaches. The head coach may replace Kerry McCoy and Hachiro Oishi, who has been an assistant with the team for 16 years and had applied for the head coaching position.

McCoy elected not to apply for the position because he will try out for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

McCoy said he endorsed Oishi for the position, but still remains confident Sunderland can replace Fritz, who was Penn State's fourth all-time winningest coach.

One quality Fritz said he liked about Sunderland is his loyalty.

Mark Janus, a heavyweight wrestler, echoed the same sentiments and believes Sunderland can provide the discipline the team needs to succeed.

"He will get in our faces if we are not working hard," Janus said. "We need someone that is really going to fire us up, something that will get us over this hump."

Assistant Athletic Director Bob Krimmel, who headed the search committee, said Sunderland was one of many, high quality applicants.

--by Christopher Antonacci