Into the Hall: Jeff Spinetti
Submitted photo
Jeff Spinetti didn’t have his mind set on winning a PIAA wrestling gold medal when he was a senior at Uniontown in 1985.
“I didn’t plan on winning the state title,” Spinetti said. “I lost my first two rounds (as a sophomore and junior in Hershey). My senior year I was undefeated going in. Obviously when you’re undefeated people are looking at you. Since I lost the first couple years I thought well if I just place I’ll be very happy.
“I wasn’t thinking of going the whole way, just one match at a time.”
As it turned out, Spinetti completed an undefeated season at 30-0 while becoming the second Red Raider to claim a state wrestling championship, joining Carl Carbonara.
Spinetti is part of the Fayette County Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2024.
Spinetti, who went on to have a stellar career at West Virginia, recalled his path to the PIAA gold medal.
“Back in the day there weren’t these computers and all this stuff,” Spinetti pointed out. “These kids know everybody now but back when I wrestled, these people, I didn’t know who the heck they were. So every time you went to the state tournament, you didn’t know. You weren’t aware of who was out there.
“In the semifinals I wrestled the one other guy in the bracket who was undefeated also – he took third the year before – and I think most people thought he was the favorite. I went in there and won the match. I never trailed. I went to the final and got through there. It ended up great.”
Spinetti expressed his gratitude for being voted into the Hall of Fame.
“I’m real excited,” he said. “I’m glad to be a part of.”
Spinette preferred football as a youngster but eventually found his way into wrestling.
“What happened was when I was younger I always wanted to be a football player,” Spinetti said. “It was football, football, football. But I never grew. I was a good player but as time went on I didn’t have the size. I could’ve played at small colleges.
“But when wrestling came around I kept on it, and now this is my love. I never thought at the beginning it was going to be that way but as time went on I became aware that, well, also I’m not a basketball player, I’m short.”
Spinetti, who wrestled under coach Jerry Simon at Uniontown, clearly made the correct choice.
“It worked out well,” said Spinetti, who competed in a couple all-star events at the end of his senior season.
“I wrestled in the Challenge of Champions and it was Double-A vs. Triple-A,” said Spinetti, who won his match. “It was kind of a thing, hey, I beat everybody. That kind of put the icing on the cake, you were the best.
“I wrestled in the (Pittsburgh) Classic which was a great experience.”
Spinetti was highly sought after by college coaches.
“All my scholarships were for wrestling,” Spinetti said. “I won the state title. That did that a lot for me and I kind of got to choose to go wherever I wanted. I’m a home boy, so I went close. I’m happy I did. There were some other colleges, like Oklahoma State, I could’ve gone to. I preferred West Virginia and it turned out I had a really good career.”
Spinetti, who was part of the WPIAL Century Club with a career record of 117-13-0 in high school, wrestled under coach Craig Turnbull at West Virginia.
“He was absolutely great to me,” Spinetti said of Turnbull. “He treated me well. I wasn’t a model student or model person I don’t think, but he stuck by me and I ended up having a really good career.”
Spinetti’s record for the Mountaineers was 99-40-9.
“I was one short of 100 (wins) which is a goal for most wrestlers,” Spinetti said. “But I’m still eighth on their list down there after all this time which I’m very proud of. I’m happy. I did win the conference my senior year.”
Spinetti was named to the All-America second team as a freshman at WVU. He reached the nationals three times and was ranked as high as fifth in the country. He was 19-1-2 with 40 takedowns as a senior.
While wrestlers have been known to go to extremes to make weight, Spinetti said he never went overboard in that aspect.
“I didn’t kill myself like some of these guys,” he said. “Back in the day they used to do all kind of crazy stuff. There is a lot of sacrifice.
“Nowadays, it’s not as much as it used to be because they control that weight-loss part of it, but the sport is just amazing. There’s no other sport like it. There’s no tougher sport and I’ve played them all. If you’ve been through wrestling, you’ve been through a lot. It’s a mental thing and just a lot of things put together that no other sport gives you.”
Spinetti noted that still today the region produces outstanding wrestlers.
“Wrestling is so rooted here,” Spinetti said. “Even at the college level, these people from other states like Oklahoma and Iowa, they recruit in Pennsylvania.”
Spinetti went into coaching after his wrestling career came to a close.
“I coached a bunch,” Spinetti said. “I coached at Beth-Center, Belle Vernon, Uniontown a couple times, Brownsville for a year. I coached wrestling for 20-some years, football a couple years. I coached a little track, too, which was fun.”
The Fayette County Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2024 will be enshrined at the Hall of Fame Golf Outing/Luncheon/Social, starting with golf at 9 a.m., on June 21 at Pleasant Valley Golf Club in Connellsville. Luncheon tickets are sold out and all spots in the golf outing have been filled.