Chris Pendleton, who served four years as the head assistant coach at the University of Wyoming, was named assistant wrestling coach at Arizona State, head wrestling coach Zeke Jones announced on July 30, 2014.
Pendleton represented the United States as one of the USA Wrestling Freestyle Junior Team assistant coaches in Finland in August 2017.
During his time at Wyoming, Pendleton specialized in training the team’s upper weights, and played a critical role in the team’s success. With the Cowboys, Pendleton’s athletes made great impacts on the team, with his wrestlers winning back-to-back West Regional titles, two-straight All-American honors and multiple conference championships. Under the supervision of Pendleton, UW also won its fourth regular-season Mountain West dual title in six years.
In his time as a student-athlete at Oklahoma State, Pendleton was considered one of the top athletes in the sport. A two-time NCAA Champion and three-time All-American honoree at 174 pounds, Pendleton led Oklahoma State to three-straight NCAA Team Championships in 2003, 2004 and 2004, while accumulating an overall collegiate record of 118-12. Pendleton was also the Big 12 champion in his weight class in both 2003 and 2005. In 2012, InterMat Magazine named him one of the 10 Best College Wrestlers of the 2000s.
Pendleton is still active in the U.S. freestyle scene and wrestles in various competitions throughout the world. In April 2014, he competed in the ASICS Las Vegas/Open Wrestling Championships at 97 kilograms (213 pounds). Pendleton was also a three-time member of the U.S. National Team under current Arizona State head coach Zeke Jones.