Nothing against wrestling or his great uncle Bruno’s legacy, but Zach Sammartino never was a grappler.

“I always focused my offseason on training for football. Football was always my dream,” Sammartino said.

? @zsammartino1 ➡️ @NFL #TheWoods pic.twitter.com/HYi9B2xopB

— Dartmouth Football (@DartFootball) April 22, 2020

But he’s proud to share a surname with Bruno Sammartino, wrestling’s legendary champion.

“It’s a cool thing. People talk about him a lot,” Sammartino said. “People recognize the last name since I’m from Pittsburgh. It’s a cool thing to carry on the family name.”

Now, he may get the chance to enhance it.

“I hope to make it stick in the NFL,” he said.

Sammartino, a North Hills graduate, played on the offensive line at Dartmouth the past five seasons, starting at guard the past two.

He’s looking ahead to the NFL Draft this weekend, hoping to hear his name called in the later rounds.

If he’s selected, he would become the 11th Dartmouth player to be drafted since 1960 and the first since Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Casey Cramer, a seventh-round pick in 2004.

The most famous Dartmouth alum to find a home in the NFL was linebacker Reggie Williams, a third-round choice in 1976. Williams played 14 seasons and went to Super Bowls XVI and XXIII with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Sammartino certainly looks like an NFL offensive lineman.

At 6-foot-4, 315 pounds, he was named first-team All-Ivy League this season and was invited to the College Gridiron Showcase in Fort Worth, Texas, in January. He spent four days mingling with 120 draft hopefuls while 160 NFL scouts took notes.

Sammartino, 22, said he spoke face-to-face with representatives from 11 teams. Projected to play center at the next level, he has played every position across the line, including left tackle at North Hills.

He said “good grades” helped him land at Dartmouth, but he didn’t play football until ninth grade and classifies himself as “a late bloomer.”

He had 15 scholarship offers — the Mid-American Conference had keen interest — but he whittled his choices to James Madison, Cincinnati and Dartmouth.

“My parents are both teachers so they really liked the Ivy League aspect of it,” he said.

He has a degree in religion, with an emphasis on religious history, but he is focused on chasing the NFL dream.

“I’m through the roof, nervous, excited, ready for it to finally be here and get this weight off my chest,” he said.

He said he works out at a New Castle gym six days a week, preparing for the rigors of an NFL training camp.

“You put in the hard work, and everything is going to pay off in the end,” he said.

In the event the NFL might have missed Dartmouth’s season — The Big Green shared the Ivy League title with Yale — Sammartino led the team in knockdown blocks the past two seasons.

“I was a mean, nasty mauler,” he said.

Here are other players with local ties who will be drafted or could be signed as free agents:

• Penn State defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos, 6-5, 266, is projected to be selected late in the first round or early in the second. He totaled 35 tackles for a loss and 17½ sacks the past two seasons.

• Penn State’s KJ Hamler, 5-9, 176, is among the best of a deep crop of wide receivers. He scored a touchdown every seven catches last season.

• Cornerback John Reid, 5-10, 187, might slip into the second or third day, which would surprise Penn State assistant Terry Smith. “John Reid is smarter than anybody out there,” he said.

• Kittanning’s Nick Bowers, 6-4, 260, made five touchdown catches among his 17 career receptions at Penn State.

• Linebacker Kylan Johnson, a transfer from Florida who was named honorable-mention All-ACC, was among several Pitt players whose pro day was canceled. He kept working out, however, and sent video to all 32 NFL teams.

• Pitt wide receiver Maurice Ffrench, 5-11, 200, broke Larry Fitzgerald’s school record for receptions, recording 96 while missing two games.

• Cornerback Dane Jackson started three years at Pitt, totaling 39 pass breakups. At one point, he was among Mel Kiper’s top 10 cornerbacks.

• Linebacker Saleem Brightwell, 6-0, 230, appeared in 49 games for Pitt.

• Former West Virginia safety Kenny Robinson, 6-2, 198, who played at Imani Christian, was the 39th overall draft pick of the XFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks before the league went out of business. He intercepted seven passes in two seasons with the Mountaineers.

• Tight end Matthew Gonzalez, 6-3, 230, was productive at Robert Morris, with 96 receptions for 1,473 yards and 17 touchdowns in four seasons.

• After transferring from Pitt, former Pine-Richland quarterback Ben DiNucci, 6-3, 210, led James Madison to the FCS championship game last season. In two years, he completed nearly 70 percent of his passes for 5,716 yards.

• McKeesport graduate Khaleke Hudson, 5-11, 224, played a hybrid linebacker/safety role at Michigan and led the Wolverines last season with 102 tackles. As a sophomore, he had 17½ tackles for loss, including an NCAA record-tying eight against Minnesota.

• New Castle’s Geno Stone, 5-10, 210, was a two-year starter at strong safety for Iowa. He was named second-team All-Big Ten last season.

• Penn-Trafford graduate Michael Pifer, 6-2, 238, was Navy’s long snapper the past two seasons. He said he has been in contact with several NFL teams, but the cancellation of Pro Days and visits didn’t help his chances.

• Duquesne defensive back Reid Harrison-Ducros, 5-10, 185, intercepted four passes last season.

• Running back A.J. Hines, 5-11, 225, is Duquesne’s all-time rushing leader with 4,629 yards.

• Quarterback Roland Rivers, 6-3, 230, is the first Slippery Rock player to win the Harlon Hill Trophy (the Division II Heisman). He set a school record with 80 career touchdown passes.

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