Jun 9, 2024 By Jonathan Guth 3 min read

There is no denying success in wrestling comes from the most dedicated coaches and wrestlers, and if you are coaching one of the most storied programs in the history of the state, that commitment is taken up another notch.

Brian Krenzelak is Canon-McMillan through and through, but the Big Macs’ boys and girls wrestling coach has decided to step down to be there for his family.

“My mother-in-law passed away this spring, and she had been battling ALS,” Krenzelak said. “My in-laws are very close and my mother-in-law was extremely important and I decided it was best to focus on family. I knew the family or the program would suffer if I attempted to do both, so I made my decision, and after 27 years coaching in the Canon-McMillan wrestling program, my letter of resignation was the toughest letter I’ve ever had to write.”

Krenzelak began his coaching career with the program as an assistant when he was 20-years-old and guided the junior high program for 21 seasons. He turned down head coaching opportunities at other schools to stay with his alma mater before being hired as head coach in the summer of 2021.

“I was offered head coaching jobs at Belle Vernon right before they started their run to the WPIAL title, and Shaler also offered me a position, but it meant a lot to be at Canon-McMillan, and I wanted to honor people like Manuel Pihakis. I’m proud of what I did and I’m not against coming back. I will stay involved with the program as much as I can. I may go on the alumni board, and I am leaving on good terms. Until you are the head coach at Canon-McMillan, you don’t really understand. The expectations are high, and I knew it wouldn’t be fair to the program if I couldn’t give it my all.”

Krenzelak guided the Big Macs to a WPIAL team title in 2023. Canon-McMillan placed fourth at the state dual-meet tournament that same season. He was instrumental in starting the girls program and was in the corner when Val Solorio won the first PIAA championship for girls on March 9 at the Giant Center in Hershey. The Big Macs also went on to win the team title at the first sanctioned girls state tournament.

Krenzelak is confident the boys and girls programs will continue to shine at Canon-McMillan.

“Both programs will be solid,” Krenzelak said. “We have some younger kids coming up in the boys program, and they are a good group of kids. The girls program will be strong. The girls team was very important to me, and what they did in winning a state team title adds to the legacy of Canon-McMillan wrestling. Val has graduated but some solid girls are coming back.”

Krenzelak had to close his wrestling club, Wrestling With Virtue, that not only taught wrestling but character development and spirituality.