It’s not hard to find evidence of Floyd “Skip” Chatt’s legacy.
Check wrestling mats across Pennsylvania. Check atop podiums across the United States.
You’re sure to find athletes impacted by one of Erie’s wrestling patriarchs.
Chatt, a longtime youth wrestling coach, died March 31 at 72 years old. Though some may not recognize his name, wrestling fans will recognize the athletes he molded.
Despite the interscholastic wrestling season’s recent ending, more than 70 athletes packed Rambler Wrestling Club practice the night of Chatt’s death. That’s his legacy — changing Erie wrestling for the better.
“(Chatt) truly cared,” said Dorian Crosby, a PIAA and NCAA champion coached by Chatt. “Win, lose or draw, he was in your corner no matter what. He wanted to make you a better person.”
Building a champion: How Erie’s Carter Starocci made NCAA wrestling history
Champion factory
Paniro Johnson remembers the only time he ever wanted to quit wrestling.
Johnson, a Big 12 champion and NCAA tournament qualifier, now competes at Iowa State. His career began, though, under Chatt.
Johnson recalls crying on a stairwell at age nine. Chatt, demanding maximum effort from his wrestlers, had voiced displeasure with Johnson’s laziness.
“Skip told me, ‘That’s because we believe you can win’,” Johnson said. “That taught me a lesson. When you want to get the best out of someone, you need to be hard on them.”
Floyd “Skip” Chatt (center) is pictured with former Cathedral Prep wrestlers Carter Starocci (left) and Paniro Johnson (right) in the Prep wrestling room. Starocci and Johnson both enjoyed NCAA Division I success after starting their careers under Chatt.
Johnson hears Chatt’s voice when receiving criticism from Iowa State head coach Kevin Dresser.
“Maybe that’s them saying they believe you can be great,” Johnson said. “(Chatt) never once told me that someone was too good to beat, or that my goals were too high. Sometimes, it feels like someone who loves you is picking on you.”
Johnson, a four-time PIAA medalist at Cathedral Prep, is one of countless youth, high school and collegiate champions produced by Chatt. He and Crosby – a PIAA champion at Prep who recently won an NCAA Division II national championship at Gannon University – started with Chatt on Team Erie.
“(Chatt) never gave up on me,” Crosby said. “He was that support system I never knew I needed.”
Team Erie gave way to Rambler Wrestling Club, which anchors the perennially successful Cathedral Prep high school program. Its alumni include Carter Starocci, the Penn State legend and only five-time NCAA Division I champion, who served as a pallbearer at Chatt’s funeral.
More: Gannon wrestler Crosby wins long-awaited NCAA national championship
Fifty-one state champs
Chatt didn’t just make high school and collegiate champions.
His club created dozens of Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling (PJW) state champions. Fifty-one of them, to be exact.
Youth wrestling, after all, provides the base for many wrestling careers. Chatt molded hundreds through Team Erie and beyond.
Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling awarded Skip Chatt its “Adult Recognition Award” in 2022 for his years of service to youth wrestling.
Sierra Chiesa, the famed girls’ wrestling pioneer who now competes at Gannon, recalled early practices under Chatt. She, of course, was the only female in attendance.
“None of the boys wanted to practice with me,” Chiesa said. “Skip yelled at all of them and, eventually, they did. That team severely impacted who I am today.”
Hard work and “tough love” marked Chatt’s leadership. Chiesa recalled one practice which included 300 push-ups.
“(Chatt) did have his soft side,” Chiesa said. “He would never let me doubt myself, and he always told me to keep my chin up.”
Chatt’s coaching career spanned more than 35 years. Recent years found him chasing his wrestlers at Cathedral Prep and beyond, supporting whomever he could.
Skip Chatt (right) poses with a young Carter Starocci after coaching the future Penn State Nittany Lion to a Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling (PJW) state championship.
Chatt inspired coaches, too. McDowell head coach Josh Knapp recalled the “proud moment” when Chatt asked him to lead Rambler Wrestling Club.
“What was I going to say to Skip Chatt asking me to coach his club?” Knapp said. “I was honored. (Chatt) improved every person around him, especially me.”
Knapp hails from Brookville, some 100-ish miles from Erie. Even as a child, he saw Chatt at youth tournaments, noting him as the “loudest guy in the room.”
“As I got to know him, I saw why the kids loved him, and that is because he genuinely cared,” Knapp said. “Skip didn’t care if you were white or black, rich or poor, or what your past looked like. He was their coach.”
Rambler Wrestling Club will continue to produce champions. It will do so, however, without the man who started it all.
Contact Jeff Uveino at juveino@gannett.com. Follow him on X @realjuveino.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie wrestlers mourn death of Floyd ‘Skip’ Chatt, longtime youth coach