American’s Steve Fittery takes control during his quarterfinal win at the 2010 NCAA Championships in Omaha. Larry Slater photo.

American senior Steve Fittery can’t think of a better way to write the final chapter of his wrestling career.

He never won a state title and never won a title in two seasons at the NCAA Division II level, but Fittery has a legitimate shot to reach the top of the podium at March’s NCAA Division I Championships in Philadelphia.

Fittery is 10-0 and ranked No. 1 nationally at 157 pounds this season.

“Wouldn’t that be an awesome story? Little farm kid makes it big and wins nationals in his home state,” Fittery said. “It would be more than a dream come true for me.”

Fittery grew up on a farm near a southeast Pennsylvania town so small that it doesn’t even have its own post office.

“There are more cows than people in Schoeneck,” Fittery said with a laugh.

The small-town kid more than held his own on college wrestling’s biggest stage last season. Fittery placed fifth in the 2010 NCAA Championships at 157 pounds.

Fittery hasn’t lost since. He’s pinned six opponents, and owns one technical fall and one major decision this season. Nobody has come within five points of him.

“Steve is relentless in his attack. He doesn’t stop,” American coach Mark Cody said. “Usually within the first 10 seconds, he has a takedown and is already working for a fall. He’s trying to score points for all seven minutes. Earlier this season, he won a match by major decision and he wasn’t happy when he walked off the mat. He wants a pin or a technical fall every time he goes out there.”

Fittery was not heavily recruited by Division I schools coming out of high school. He placed fifth at the Pennsylvania state tournament as a junior before finishing second as a senior. He signed with Division II Shippensburg University in his home state.

Fittery placed second at the NCAA Division II tournament at 141 pounds as a true freshman in 2007. He followed with another second-place finish in 2008. He lost to Central Oklahoma’s Kyle Evans both years in the finals, falling 7-0 as a freshman and 3-2 as a sophomore.

Fittery redshirted the next season, wrestling in open tournaments for Team Jesus Christ. A devout Christian, Fittery was looking to transfer to another school.

“A friend of mine, Scott Fawcett, who works at the Pentagon, was a fan of the American University program,” Fittery said. “He sent my resume to Coach Cody to see if they might be interested in me.”

Soon after that, Cody invited Fittery to the school’s campus in Washington, D.C.

“I was sold after five minutes of talking to Coach Cody,” Fittery said. “He said, ‘If you come here, I’m going to make you a national champion.’ I talked to a lot of guys on the team and they said the guys at American do all the right things, on and off the mat. It was a perfect fit for me.”

Fittery said Cody, who has coached top wrestlers like Olympic champion Rulon Gardner and World silver medalist Brad Vering, has had a huge impact on him.

“Coach Cody says, “Be remembered for how hard you work and who you help along the way,’” Fittery said. “He’s a great coach who knows what he’s talking about. One of the most important things I’ve learned from Coach Cody is priorities. He really puts his family first and he considers us his second family. He knows we are students before we are athletes. If we have a big test coming up, he will give us a day off from practice so we can study. He wants us to be successful in life.” 

Fittery had been struggling making 141 and chose to bump up two weight classes to 157.

“When I went from 141 to 157, I was terrified,” he said. “I thought I would get killed, but I ended up doing well. The guys at 157 are a lot slower. It’s easier than wrestling 141 because I know if I keep moving and push the pace I can have success.”

Fittery arrived at American in May 2009.

“I was really out of shape when I first got here,” he said. “I was really struggling. Coach Cody kept saying to me in practice, ‘Steve Fittery, national champion.’ It took me about three months before I started to believe that. I’ve improved a lot since I came here.”

Cody said Fittery has set the example as a student-athlete.

“Steve has a great attitude,” Cody said. “He’s a good student and he has a real disciplined lifestyle off the mat. You couldn’t ask for a better kid to have in your program.”

Fittery burst onto the national scene last December when he captured the Midlands Championships. He was named 2009 Midlands Champion of Champions.

“I approach every tournament the same and that’s what I did at the Midlands,” he said. “I like to go out and have fun at wrestling tournaments. I needed a winter jacket, and I got the Champion of Champions jacket last year. It’s a nice varsity jacket with leather sleeves. It’s really awesome. It’s the jacket I wear.”

Fittery is known for wrestling a wide-open, attacking style where he puts points on the board.

“It drives me crazy when guys stand around and try not to lose,” he said. “You work so hard in practice and do all these drills, and then you stand around and don’t do anything in a match. It’s fun to open up and wrestle aggressively. I want to put on a show and draw people into wrestling. I don’t want to be boring.”

Fittery is part of a strong American team that is ranked No. 8 nationally by InterMat. Fittery’s teammate, junior heavyweight Ryan Flores, is ranked fourth.

“I wouldn’t count Flores out to be a national champion,” Fittery said. “He’s wrestling really well. I love the way he wrestles. He really comes at you and wrestles hard.”

American also has ranked wrestlers in No. 10 Ganbayar Sanjaa at 149 and No. 19 Daniel Mitchell at 197. Sanjaa is a junior and Mitchell is a sophomore. Sanjaa, from Mongolia, was a junior-college national champion and a runner-up in two years at Colby Community College in Kansas.

American is looking for its best NCAA finish in team history. The Eagles’ best finish came last season when they finished 14th in Omaha. American is now fully funded in wrestling, with the maximum 9.9 scholarships. 

“We have a really young team. I’m the only senior on the team,” Fittery said. “I’m excited to be on a top 10 team. Everybody is improving every day. We have some really good young wrestlers who are working hard.”

Fittery also excels in the classroom. He carries a 3.4 grade-point average with a double major in education and mathematics.

“I would like to be a high school math teacher, and I also would love to be a college coach,” he said. “I think I can make a difference in people’s lives. I want to help people and give them a head start on their future. I can definitely make a positive impact with teaching and coaching.”

Fittery’s older brother, Matt, was a three-time NCAA qualifier for Lock Haven. He knocked off No. 2 seed Bubba Jenkins of Penn State in the first round at the 2009 NCAAs.

“Matt had a great work ethic,” Steve said. “He worked harder than I did and that’s why he was so successful.”

Steve Fittery became a Division I All-American with his fifth-place finish at the 2010 NCAA Championships in Omaha.

Seeded fifth, Fittery knocked off No. 4 seed Cyler Sanderson of Penn State in the quarterfinals. He lost to No. 1 seed and eventual champion J.P. O’Connor of Harvard in the semifinals. He then lost 6-4 to No. 2 seed Adam Hall of Boise State before beating Sanderson again to place fifth.

“I just love wrestling and I love competing,” he said. “I’m going to keep wrestling my style. I’m going to go out and be aggressive. Last year was a great confidence-builder for me. Wrestling at nationals, it was great. It was fun. I wrestled well and wrestled as hard as I can. It was emotionally, mentally and physically draining. It’s a very tough tournament, but it was fun to go out there and battle.”

Fittery was wrestling at the Division II level when Josh Glenn became American’s first NCAA champion in 2007.

In addition to Glenn, Cody coached NCAA champions in Vering and Tolly Thompson at Nebraska. Thompson went on to win a World bronze medal. Cody coached Mark Munoz to a national title at Oklahoma State.

“Steve definitely has what it takes to be a national champion,” Cody said. “He works extremely hard, almost to the point of exhaustion, in practice. There are not many days when he doesn’t leave the room completely wiped out. Getting him to that point is not easy.

“Steve is constantly asking technical questions and he’s always looking to get better. He continues to work hard and continues to improve. He really believes he is the best. There is no doubt in his mind that he’s going to win a national title this season.”

Fittery can’t think of a better stage to achieve that goal than at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The 2011 NCAAs will be held there on March 17-19.

“I’m excited for nationals to be in Philly,” he said. “I grew up only an hour drive from there. I hope to have a lot of friends and family there, and have a little cheering section for me. Hopefully, I am hitting my peak for that tournament. I’m going to wrestle hard like I always do and we will see what happens.”