Chuck Kearney is a highly respected collegiate wrestling coach with an extensive record of success developing elite student-athletes at the NCAA and NAIA levels. Known for producing champions while emphasizing academic excellence and character development, Kearney brings a championship-level standard to every aspect of the programs he leads. Coach currently has the 3^rd most dual meet victories amongst active coaches at the NAIA level.

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 4^th.

As a collegiate coach, Kearney has mentored one NCAA Division I National Champion, one NAIA National Champion, and two NAIA National Finalists, along with 16 NCAA Division I All-Americans. 5 NAIA All-Americans.  His athletes have captured 24 Pac-10 Conference Championships, 21 KCAC Conference Championships, and 47 KCAC top-three individual conference finishes. During the 2019–2020 season, Kearney guided his team to a first-place KCAC team finish and earned KCAC Coach of the Year honors. In 2024 earned KCAC Coach of the Year for the second time.

In 2025 the Spires won both the Regular season KCAC Dual Meet Championships as well as the KCAC Conference Team Championships setting a university scoring record of 199.5 points besting the completion by 60pts. The Spires placed 9 in the finals and had 6 individual KCAC Champions. Brody Gee was named KCAC Wrestler of the Year and the second time in as many years a Spire earned the honor (Hartwell Taylor 2024) and the third time in program history (Riley Jaramillo 2020).

At the NAIA National Championships the University of Saint Mary had 7 student/athletes in the top 12 and finished with multiple All-Americans for the second consecutive season. Brody Gee finishing 3^rd and Hartwell Taylor finishing 4^th.

Kearney has consistently emphasized academic achievement, with his athletes earning forty-eight KCAC Scholar-Athlete awards and  eighteen NWCA Academic All-American honors, reflecting his commitment to developing complete student-athletes.

A former elite competitor, Kearney was an NCAA Division I All-American, Pac-10 Champion, and two-time Pac-10 finalist, finishing third in the Big-8 Conference as a freshman. His competitive career includes 106 collegiate victories, selection to the AWN First Team All-American Freshman Team, and national and international success as an Espoir World Team alternate, National Espoir Freestyle runner-up, and three-time Junior National freestyle finalist. He was also named State of Oregon Wrestler of the Year (1983).

Recognized for building competitive college programs rooted in accountability, discipline, and sustained excellence, Chuck Kearney prepares student-athletes for success both on the mat and beyond graduation.

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.

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.”