CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
· Ralph Rosso enters his fourth year on staff at Penn State after joining the Nittany Lions in August 2021 following four seasons at Washington, his most recent stop. He was promoted to the role of associate head coach before Penn State began its 2025 campaign.
· Rosso begins the 2025 season on the heels of an outstanding campaign in which he and her fellow Penn State assistant coaches earned North East Region Assistant Coaching Staff of the Year recognition from the WCGA for their work with the Nittany Lions in 2024.
AT PENN STATE
· 2024 was an outstanding year for Rosso’s vault and bars event groups. Four Nittany Lions on vault and three on bars tallied 9.9+ season-best marks.
· As the season progressed, Rosso’s groups continued to improve, with the bars group setting the No. 4 bars total in school history during the NCAA Regional Final. The 49.375 total is the team’s best score on the apparatus since 2018 and its second-best since 2003, showcasing the strength of Rosso’s coaching.
· On vault, the Nittany Lions concluded the season ranked No. 21 in the nation on the apparatus. Rosso guided Ava Piedrahita, in her follow-up to her standout freshman season, to seven 9.9+ vault scores. The sophomore never dipped below a 9.8 on the apparatus in her 15 routines. Piedrahita won six vault titles in 2024, bringing her career total to 11 vault wins in just two seasons with Rosso as her coach. The star sophomore earned First Team All-Big Ten recognition in 2024, thanks in large part to the efforts of Rosso’s coaching on vault and bars.
· Following the 2024 season, Rosso, along with fellow assistant coaches Rachel Inniss and Lynnzee Brown, were named the North East Region Assistant Coaching Staff of the Year by the WCGA.
· Rosso’s second season with Penn State saw the bars group post the second-highest bars NQS in the region with a 49.205. His vault squad also posted the second-best NQS in the region, recording a 49.160 on the season.
· Penn State’s bars squad capped off its 2023 campaign by setting the regional program record with a 49.325 total score at NCAA Regionals, a mark it then surpassed in 2024. Senior Cassidy Rushlow scored a 9.95 to tie Alissa Bonsall (2021) for the regional program record in the event as well.
· Rushlow (bars) and teammate Piedrahita, both under Rosso’s guidance, qualified for the 2023 NCAA Championships in their respective events. Rosso mentored Piedrahita, a true freshman, to Postseason All-America honors on vault at the National Championships.
· During the regular season, Rosso coached Rushlow to a 9.975 bars routine, tying for second all-time in school history. Rushlow also became the first Penn State athlete ever to record three-or-more 9.95+ bars scores in the same season as she finished with four-such tallies. As a team, the Nittany Lions tied the No. 8 bars score in school history with a 49.350 at Auburn.
· In 2022, Rosso took the reins of the bars squad that was coming off a 2021 season where it ranked 19th in the nation and second in the North East region. He also helped lead the Penn State vault squad which was fresh off of a fourth-place ranking in the North East region.
· Under Rosso’s guidance, three Nittany Lions qualified for NCAA Regionals on bars. Lauren Bridgens, Alissa Bonsall, and Cassidy Rushlow capped off excellent seasons with trips to the NCAA Regional meet. Rosso helped Bridgens and Bonsall finish off storied careers in the Blue & White with standout performances all season long.
· Penn State posted a 49.000 score or better on bars in all but two meets in 2022. The Nittany Lions came in 21st in the nation on the apparatus and finished 35th in the country on vault. Rosso also led the vault team to six scores of 49.000 or more over the course of the 2022 campaign.
BEFORE PENN STATE
· Rosso served as the head coach of the Huskies for the 2021 season after three years as an assistant coach for the program. His tenure was highlighted by an NCAA Nationals appearance in 2018, the seventh in program history.
· In 2020, Rosso helped the GymDawgs finish 12th in the nation on bars, its highest finish on the event since 2004. Washington gymnasts earned All-America honors on bars for just the third time in program history and earned their second All-Pac-12 honor on bars under Rosso.
· He coached Washington’s highest-ranked event in 2019, helping the GymDawgs finish 13th in the country on bars. Twice Washington broke 49.400 on bars, putting up the highest bars score since 2004 with a 49.425 before besting that with a 49.575 later in the year. The team won five individual bars event titles.
· The Huskies finished the regular season ranked eighth in the country in 2018, their highest regular-season finish ever. That season included Washington’s first NCAA Regional event championship since 2012 as Kristyn Hoffa, Zoey Schaefer, and Maya Washington combined to take home a floor championship en route to NCAA Nationals. The GymDawgs recorded four scores of 197 or higher in 2018, tying the program record.
· In 2017 at George Washington, Rosso helped the Colonials to the East Atlantic Gymnastics League championship and a berth in the NCAA Regionals, where a GW gymnast won the program’s first-ever NCAA Regional individual title, on the vault. Two individuals earned individual berths to nationals, the most ever at GW. A total of eight gymnasts earned All-EAGL honors.
· During his time at Arizona State, Rosso aided in the development of nine Academic All-Pac-12 gymnasts, three All-Pac-12 selections and five NCAA qualifiers, including an individual regional champion.
· Prior to Arizona State, Rosso spent time as an assistant coach at Western Michigan and was also a team manager for two seasons at Arkansas where he earned his master’s degree.
· As a standout gymnast at the University of Michigan, Rosso lettered from 2006-09, helping the Wolverines to the Big Ten title as a senior. He competed at NCAA Championships all four years and finished ninth on still rings in 2007. He also made it to the Big Ten finals on pommel horse and rings in 2007, and to two more finals in 2009, on rings and floor.
COACHING HONORS
· 2024 WCGA North East Region Assistant Coaching Staff of the Year honoree
THE RALPH ROSSO FILE
Personal
Year at Penn State: Fourth
Hometown: Morganville, N.J.
Education: Michigan, 2009 – B.A. in General Studies
Arkansas, 2013 – M.A. in Recreation and Sports Management
Coaching Timeline
2021-Present – Penn State (Assistant Coach)
2017-21 – Washington
· 2021 – Interim Head Coach
· 2017-21 – Assistant Coach
2016-17 – George Washington (Assistant Coach)
2014-16 – Arizona State (Assistant Coach)
2013-14 – Western Michigan (Assistant Coach)
2011-13 – Arkansas (Graduate Student Manager)
2009-11 – Michigan (Men’s Volunteer Assistant Coach)