John Rost was the first multiple National Champion in rifle at WVU and earned seven All-America honors from 1979-82.
The Cincinnati native became WVU’s third rifle National Champion when he captured the air rifle event at the 1981 NCAA Championship. A year later, he repeated as National Champion in the same event.
Rost captured seven All-America honors, earning smallbore accolades in 1979, and both air rifle and smallbore honors in 1980, 1981 and 1982.
The Mountaineers posted a 34-1 record during his career with three NCAA runner-up finishes. Rost was a two-time team captain and voted as the team’s most valuable shooter as a junior and senior.
He represented the United States in the men’s 10-meter air rifle event at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles where he placed sixth.
Rost traveled internationally with the United States Shooting Team, winning awards during and after college. He elected to give a career in banking his full-time attention after competing in the Olympics.
Rost graduated from WVU in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in finance. He was inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame and Mountaineer Legends Society in 2020.
