Chuck Kearney
Chuck Kearney

Bio

 

Chuck Kearney is entering his eighth season as the head coach for the University of Saint Mary wrestling programs in the fall of 2023-24 and is looking to continue the success from years past.

 

Since coming to the University of Saint Mary, Coach Kearney and the program has produced:

6 KCAC Conference Champions 15 Conference Finalists

27 KCAC Conference All-Conference Award Winners (top 3)

2 KCAC Conference Championship Outstanding Wrestlers

2 KCAC Conference Wrestler of the Year Award winners

11 NWCA Academic All-Americans 18 KCAC Conference Scholar-Athletes 2 NAIA National top 12 individuals

1 All-American

1 NAIA National Finalist

The 2019 KCAC Conference Champions of Character Team Award

The 2020 KCAC Conference Coach of the Year Award

2020 KCAC Conference Team Championship

2020 NWCA NAIA Scholar All-American Top 15 Team Award (Team GPA of 3.27)

Coach Kearney says, “We have now put ourselves in a position where we can take that next step into being a premier program. Success breeds success, and when you create a belief set that becomes reality, the sky becomes the limit.”

Prior to USM Coach Kearney has over 30 years of coaching experience—including 10 years as head wrestling coach at the University of Oregon. While at Oregon, he coached 24 PAC- 10 champions and 16 NCAA Division I All- Americans, and the first NCAA National Champion at Oregon in 37 years. He is known as a tireless recruiter filling USM’s roster his first year on campus and has continued to maintain a healthy and vibrant roster. Six of his recruiting classes while at Oregon were ranked in the top 20 by Amateur Wrestling News, two of which were in the top 10 and the highest was ranked 4th.

 

Coaching Accomplishments

  • 1 NCAA Division-1 National Champion: Shane Webster
  • 1 NAIA National Finalist: Riley Jaramillo
  • 16 NCAA D1 All-Americans
  • 24 Pac-10 Conference Champions
  • 6 KCAC Conference Champions
  • 20 KCAC Conference Top-3 Finishers
  • 9 KCAC Scholar-Athletes
  • 7 NWCA Academic All-Americans
  • 1 1st Place KCAC Team Finish (2019- 2020)
  • 1 KCAC Coach of the Year (2019-2020)
  • 12 High School State Champions
  • 42 High School State Placers

Athletic Accomplishments

  • NCAA D1 All-American
  • Pac-10 Champion
  • Two-time Pac-10 Finalist
  • Big-8 Third Place Finish
  • First Team All-American Freshman Team (AWN)
  • 106 collegiate victories
  • Espoir World Team alternate
  • Runner-up National Espoir – Freestyle
  • Three-time Junior National Freestyle finalist
  • Named the State of Oregon Wrestler of the Year (1983)

In addition to coaching, Kearney served as the Director of Athletic Alumni Development at the University of Oregon, and managed every facet of Oregon Wrestling Camps. He also served as an accountability coach for an international IT training company and coached baseball in Eugene, Oregon.