Courtesy: Cleveland State Athletics
CLEVELAND – Cleveland State Athletics has announced the promotions of the following coaches: Clint Musser (associate head coach, wrestling), Pieter Ritz (associate head coach, men’s and women’s swimming and diving) and Carl Contrascier (associate head coach, women’s soccer).
Musser has been with the Viking since July 1, 2019 and has been an integral part of the wrestling program’s significant progress. This past season, the Green and White qualified three wrestlers for the NCAA’s, the most since the 2007 season.
“Clint is well deserving of this promotion to associate head coach,” said wresting head coach Josh Moore. “Our student-athletes have a great deal of respect for his knowledge and ability to help them reach their goals, on and off the mat. With Clint on staff, we will continue making tremendous steps to becoming the program that we know Cleveland State can be!”
The 2019-20 season was capped in style with seven Vikings placing at the Mid-American Conference Championships, five of whom outpaced their seed. Musser, a two-time All-American at Penn State in his collegiate days, returned to his northeast Ohio roots upon joining CSU after he spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach at American University.
“I want to thank Josh Moore for the vote of confidence and the opportunity to advance my coaching career,” said Musser. “I look forward to continuing to build on the successes we have achieved over the past two seasons and developing CSU wrestling into a perennial MAC champion contender and a top-20 national program. We have a fantastic group of young men on our roster with big academic and athletic goals, as well as the ability and work ethic to achieve those goals. I’m excited for what the future has in store for the ‘new era’ of CSU wrestling!”
Ritz rejoined the Viking swimming and diving program in August 2019, following four seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Cincinnati. Ritz helped the Vikings to numerous successes in his two seasons, which include coaching Bob Fick to 2021 #HLSD Freshman of the Year, landing a league-leading seven swimming and diving student-athletes on the 2021 #HLSD All-Academic Team and helped the men’s and women’s programs to runner-up showings at the 2020 #HLSD Championships.
“It is truly an honor to be able to promote Pieter Ritz to associate head coach,” said swimming and diving head coach Hannah Burandt. “This promotion and title reflects Pieter’s impact and abilities as a coach. We are truly fortunate to have Pieter on staff and I am excited to see how our program reaches new horizons because of Pieter’s elevation.”
Ritz was a four-year letterwinner for the Vikings, where he earned the swimming program’s Leadership Award in his senior season. He also served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Council for three years at CSU.
“Thank you to Hannah Burandt on the promotion,” said Ritz. “As a former Viking myself, it’s an honor to work at Cleveland State and build the legacy started by Robert F. Busbey and my former coach Wally Morton. I look forward to continue working with Coach Burandt, Coach Karban, and the rest of our staff to create a program will exceed in the pool, the classroom, and the community.”
Contrascier is entering his seventh season assisting the Cleveland State women’s soccer program. In his six seasons at CSU, he’s helped lead the Vikings to several accomplishments both on and off the field.
“When the opportunity presented itself 4.5 years ago for us to lead and reshape this program, I only wanted to pursue it knowing that Carl would be a part of this project as well,” said women’s soccer head coach Dallas Boyer. “We had a shared vision of what a competitive Division I program could operate like here at CSU and from those very first days everything that we’ve done and accomplished towards that goal has been done together. The values that this program has been reshaped around – a real prioritization of academics; investing in the student-athlete as a person over only as a player; respecting the need to handle each day with a more professional approach; providing opportunities for players to learn and develop in the game – are all things Carl has helped shape and continues to reinforce with his daily commitment to CSU Soccer. This ability to recognize and reward that impact he has made and the opportunity to take his next professional steps within our program is very important in continuing that program growth he has been such a huge part of, and I’m personally appreciative and encouraged at the chance to continue seeing this project through together.”
Contrascier aided recent graduate Stevie Holbrook in etching her name in the record book for second-most career shutouts in program history (14). The Medina, Ohio, native assisted the program to their first-ever Horizon League championship appearance in the 2018 season. In addition to his women’s soccer responsibilities, Contrascier also works with the men’s soccer program, primarily working with Viking goalkeepers.
“I’d like to thank Dallas Boyer for the promotion to associate head coach,” said Contrascier. “Having the ability to come to work every day and love what I do is truly a dream come true. I can’t wait to continue to work with Coach Boyer, Coach Daniels and our amazing team of student-athletes as we work towards our goal of building champions in the classroom, in competition and in our community.”
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