Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Chattahoochee Valley Community College

Pirate wrestling only lasted two seasons from 1978-1979 through 1979-1980 but head coach Ron Steube made the most out of the only NJCAA wrestling program the state of Alabama has even seen.  He lead the pirates to an overall dual record of 23-3 including winning thirteen duals in the final season of 1980.   Both his 1979 & 1980 teams finished as the Southeast Regional Runner-ups, placing fourth & third respectively at the Mid-South tournament among an assortment of larger schools.  The pirates also took fifth in a fourteen tournament among Division I & Division II schools at the Sunshine Open.  

When Pirate wrestling was discontinued, the team was ranked tenth in the NJCAA.  All in all over two seasons, Steube's wrestlers earned ten NJCAA qualifications. 

Charlie Heard

Waynesburg College head wrestling coach Charlie Heard had a standout career for the Pirates, winning a Southeastern Regional Title in 1980.  The Troup County High School (Georgia) graduate then transferred to the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga where he finished out his collegiate career with a record of 159-14.   An alternate on both the 1984 & 1988 Olympic teams, Heard then turned over to coaching where he served as an assistant at both Oklahoma State & West Virginia before taking the head position at Waynesburg. 

Marty Jannetty
177 lbs 

AWA & WWE Tag Team champion Marty Jannetty was the best wrestler on the Pirate team winning back to back Southeast Regional titles in 79' & 80'.   He then transferred to Auburn with the intention of wrestling for the Tigers but shortly before the season began, athletic director Pat Dye announced that wrestling would be discontinued.  Jannetty considered switching to football but was then persuaded by professional wrestler Jerry Oates to give the world of All Star wrestling a try.  Jannetty did & the rest as they say is history.