Article from InterMat Wrestling
Five Years of Oregon State Wrestling Under Chris Pendleton
The 2020 coaching carousel got off to a quick start as Oregon State announced that Jim Zalesky would not be retained as the Beavers head coach on March 9th. Less than a month later, the school announced that they had hired Chris Pendleton as the program’s next head coach. A two-time NCAA champion...
intermatwrestle.com
Five Years of Oregon State Wrestling Under Chris Pendleton
The 2020 coaching carousel got off to a quick start as Oregon State announced that Jim Zalesky would not be retained as the Beavers head coach on March 9th. Less than a month later, the school announced that they had hired Chris Pendleton as the program’s next head coach. A two-time NCAA champion...
intermatwrestle.com
Five Years of Oregon State Wrestling Under Chris Pendleton
The 2020 coaching carousel got off to a quick start as Oregon State announced that Jim Zalesky would not be retained as the Beavers head coach on March 9th. Less than a month later, the school announced that they had hired Chris Pendleton as the program’s next head coach.A two-time NCAA champion and a key figure on one of the best teams in the history of DI wrestling (Oklahoma State’s 2005 squad), Chris Pendleton spent almost a decade competing on the Senior level. Pendleton got into the coaching ranks as an assistant at Wyoming and then moved on to Arizona State.
Pendleton spent six years with the Sun Devils and was likely instrumental in the development of two-time national champion Zahid Valencia.
Results
Under Pendleton’s direction, Oregon State has gone 31-27 in dual meets since the 2020-21 campaign. During his time in Corvallis, Oregon State captured the 2023 Pac-12 championship and finished in second on two other occasions. The Beavers were also awarded the 2025 title after it was found that Little Rock used an ineligible wrestler. From a dual standpoint, the 2021-22 season was the best under Pendleton as OSU wrestled to an 8-3 record.
2021-22 was also memorable from an NCAA Tournament standpoint, as the Beavers finished in 12th place behind four All-Americans. That was the best finish for the program since the 2013 tournament. It was the first time that four Oregon State wrestlers got on the podium in one year since the feat was accomplished in 1995.
All told, six wrestlers have combined to earn seven All-American honors under Pendleton at Oregon State. In addition, three Beavers have fallen one match shy of the NCAA podium. In conference action, 10 wrestlers have combined to win 12 Pac-12 crowns in that span.
During the Pendleton era, Oregon State has been a fixture at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and produced 18 placewinners. That total includes one champion (Gary Traub) and two other finalists.
Recruiting
Prior to Pendleton’s arrival, Oregon State seemed to be a bit of a non-factor in the recruiting game. According to MatScouts, the Beavers only appeared in the national recruiting rankings once between 2015 and 2020 (22nd in 2017).
It has been a totally different story under Pendleton and his assistants. The first full class for Pendleton (2022) came in at #22 in the nation. A year later, they improved to #15. The 2025 class features seven Big Boarders and three top 100 prospects and is sure to secure a place in the forthcoming rankings.
Under Pendleton, Oregon State has poached plenty of talented prospects from his home state of California. Four of Oregon State’s seven Big Boarders are from Cali. All three of Oregon State’s early commitments from 2026 are as well.
In addition to California, Oregon State has plenty of space in the Pacific Northwest to recruit from without any local DI teams. They’ve taken advantage of this opportunity and have plenty of recruits from the overall region.
Miscellaneous
- Pendleton made strong assistant coaching hires upon his arrival. Then-Stanford assistant coach Nate Engel and then-Clackamas CC head coach Josh Rhoden. Both remain with the team in 2025. The pair is also very instrumental in the Beavers recruiting success.
- Oregon State’s Beaver Dam RTC has been a key player in the women’s freestyle world. Notables such as Adeline Gray, Mallory Velte, Alex Glaude, Alyssa Lampe, and Skylar Grote have spent time in the RTC.
- Also in reference to the Beaver Dam RTC, Oregon State athletes have found success on the international stage. Aden Attao captured a U20 world medal in Greco-Roman before arriving on campus and added a second in the summer of 2024. In the freestyle portion of the 2024 U20 World Championships, Justin Rademacher earned a bronze medal, as well. Another highly decorated international competitor, Joel Adams, will join the Beaver for the 2025-26 campaign.
- During the 2023-24 campaign, Oregon State established a Gill Coliseum attendance record for wrestling with 8,540 fans for the Beavers dual with Penn State.
- The 2025-26 Oregon State starting lineup could feature six out of the ten wrestlers with NCAA experience.
