Oregon State has their next head coach. The university announced today that former Arizona State assistant Chris Pendleton will be the next head man in Corvallis. On March 9, Oregon State announced that Jim Zalesky would not be returning after spending 13 seasons as the head wrestling coach. 

Beaver Nation, welcome your new @Beaverwrestling Head Coach @ChrisPendleton9! Coach Pendleton was a 2x national champ as a competitor, and has spent the last six seasons as an assistant ASU, winning 3 of the last 4 Pac-12 titles. #GoBeavs

Details: https://t.co/ZKJkCjUSxI pic.twitter.com/4UnYgmwdfB

— Go Beavs (@BeaverAthletics) March 30, 2020

Oregon State athletic director Scott Barnes had the following to say.

“The interest in this position was incredibly high, but as the process moved forward Coach Pendleton quickly rose to the top. Coach Pendleton’s focus on the development of student-athletes on and off the mat aligns with the Oregon State culture."

Pendleton is excited to get to work in Corvallis.

“When I started on my path in wrestling I had no idea where this journey would take me; I am beyond grateful that it has led me to become the head coach at Oregon State University... I'm looking forward to helping Build The Dam!"

Pendleton comes to Oregon State after spending the past five seasons with PAC-12 foe Arizona State. While in Tempe, Pendleton coached a total of six wrestlers (Blake Stauffer, Zahid Valencia, Tanner Hall, Josh Shields, Jason Tsirtsis, Christian Pagdilao) to nine All-Americans finishes. Pendleton was also instrumental in Zahid Valencia's back-to-back NCAA championships in 2018 and 2019.

Prior to his time at Arizona State, Pendleton spent four years as the head assistant coach at the University of Wyoming. During his time in Laramie, four different wrestlers earned a total of six All-American honors. 

The California native was a three-time All-American and two-time NCAA champion at Oklahoma State before having success on the international level as well. Pendleton was on the U.S. National Team three times throughout his freestyle career.