Chase Pami is a former college and freestyle wrestler who competed in numerous world-class tournaments. Additionally, he taught wrestling classes at the Illinois Regional Training Center and Air Force Academy before opening the Gold Rush Wrestling Club in Las Vegas.
Chase won the 2012 NYAC International Tournament Championship and qualified twice for Olympic Team Trials. Numerous coaches, such as Brandon Slay and Zeike Jones, have overseen his training.
Chase Pami’s background
Chase Pami hails from Las Vegas, Nevada, and began wrestling at an early age, thanks to his mother bringing him along to local events where his skills could develop further. Additionally, she enrolled him in judo and gymnastics lessons to build balance and flexibility; eventually, however, these practices stopped being pursued due to his overwhelming passion for wrestling.
Chase rose to become one of the state’s premier wrestlers during his high school years, winning two state titles before going on to become an NCAA runner-up at 157 pounds for Cal Poly University. Additionally, he was an accomplished freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestler and has twice represented Team USA at World Cup competitions.
Chase boasts an impressive coaching resume as well, having worked as a collegiate assistant coach before coaching at Philadelphia’s University City school, where he has produced six NCAA championship qualifiers, nine All-Ivy wrestlers, and an EIWA champion during his time there.
Pami may boast many accomplishments, yet he has experienced his fair share of losses as well. Over his 23-year career, he has faced some of the world’s best wrestlers, including Michael Chandler, Gregor Gillespie, Matt Moley, and Hayden Hidlay – to name a few.
Although he has extensive experience on the mats, he continues to learn and develop as a coach. With help from mentors such as Olympic gold medalist Brandon Slay, he has already accomplished much.
After finishing his college wrestling career, Chase Pami decided to embark on a full-time coaching career. Since 2016, he has been part of Philadelphia University City’s coaching staff as well as being selected as an elite coaching staff member of Pennsylvania Regional Training Center alongside Brandon Slay and Air Force Wrestling Colorado Springs training and coaching with both groups gaining him invaluable knowledge that he shared with students; making them better wrestlers than before! His influence was undoubtedly profound on young minds that learned under him.
Chase Pami’s career on the mats
Chase Pami hails from Las Vegas, Nevada, where his mother first introduced him to wrestling as an early way of developing discipline and strength. Soon after that, he became a successful college-level wrestler, placing twice in second place at NCAA championships while representing Team USA at World Cup tournaments on two separate occasions. Additionally, he has served as a coach at various high schools and universities, including the Air Force Academy.
Chase currently works at the Pennsylvania Regional Training Center as an assistant coach, working alongside Olympic champion Brandon Slay. In his career, he has had the pleasure of learning from several top coaches in his sport; they provided invaluable mentorship. Through this exposure, he developed his distinct coaching style.
Their first experience on the mats came during his junior year of high school, competing in both judo and wrestling before realizing there were more scholarship opportunities in wrestling alone. From then on, he earned multiple state titles as well as an All-American title.
Chase Pami made history during his senior year of college by competing at the national championships and going unbeaten until facing J.P. O’Connor of Harvard in the 157-pound division. O’Connor had set out to become Harvard’s first four-time All-American; Chase Pami would prove himself to impede that path.
Even though Chase lost, he took home a silver medal. He felt honored to represent his country in such an esteemed competition and credits his success to all of the hard work he put in over both his prep school and college careers.
This match was tight, coming down to one takedown in the end. Chase had taken an early 2-1 lead, but O’Connor managed to seize control following a late reversal and win it all, breaking Chase’s perfect season and leaving him with a silver medal. Later, he said this loss reminded him that more work must be put in to reach his goals.
Chase Pami’s coaching career
Chase Pami is well known as both an accomplished competitor and coach, having guided multiple NCAA Championship qualifiers, nine All-Ivy wrestlers, and an EIWA champion during his time coaching in University City. Additionally, he served on the coaching staff of numerous club and high school programs before developing his training regime for use with Philadelphia Quakers wrestlers.
Pami earned two All-American awards at Cal Poly and finished runner-up at the 2010 NCAA Championships, serving as an outstanding weight class 157 wrestler for their Mustangs squad that helped win two Pac-10 titles during his time there. Competing against some of the top wrestlers like Michael Chandler, Gregor Gillespie, Dan Vallimint, and Matt Moley.
Pami earned his Bachelor’s in Communication Studies from Cal Poly and has been wrestling since he was a young boy, thanks to his mother enlisting his participation in a wrestling event as a way of toughening him up. Since then, he has benefitted from training under coaches such as Sammie Henson, Joe Heskett, and Bill Zadic while also training under Zeike Jones, Brandon Slay, and John Azevedo – including their tutelage during competitions!
Pami earned two state championships this year and was chosen to represent the US at this year’s Cliff Keen Invitational tournament, beating out 48 wrestlers – including some of the top ten teams from across the country. Pami has worked hard during off-season training – his efforts are evident!
Pami found himself leading Binghamton’s Justin Lister 2-1 with less than 30 seconds left in the first period before O’Connor scored an unexpected takedown and three points that gave him victory.
Although Chase may have fallen short in the final, he still had an outstanding performance and felt satisfied with his efforts. Overcoming injury to come close to winning nationals was no mean feat and a fantastic accomplishment that will only grow over time.
Chase Pami’s training regime
Chase Pami has always been a highly competitive and experienced freestyle wrestler and two-time NCAA Champion at Cal Poly. As an expert coach of young wrestlers he coaches, he brings an abundance of knowledge that helps shape them. Furthermore, having competed at the highest levels in US wrestling, he is an excellent teacher of this sport. He has developed an incredible training regimen that involves hard work and dedication.
Pami studied wrestling at Illinois Regional Training Center before making the move to Colorado Springs, where he now serves as an assistant coach for Air Force wrestling. Pami brings with him an arsenal of tools designed to equip Falcon wrestlers for the forthcoming season; he boasts both collegiate coaching experience and is an accomplished competitor with numerous gold medals under his belt.
Pami emerged from the Qwest Center tunnel and onto an elevated wrestling mat with adrenaline pumping through him, ready to compete in front of a national audience via ESPN for a national wrestling title. Coming from Las Vegas – not renowned as an epicenter for wrestling – this accomplishment marked by Pami was truly monumental.
Pami faced Harvard’s J.P. O’Connor in the finals, in what turned into an intense matchup that ended with O’Connor taking an early lead before holding off Pami’s late attempt at takedown to win national glory – making him Cal Poly’s first NCAA wrestler to reach championship in nearly four decades!
Pami was pleased with his performance despite losing the title, mainly how he performed in the final match. He attributes much of his success to preparation before nationals as a significant factor, as well as crediting his team’s support. In addition to Pami, several Mustangs earned All-American status: Renaldo Rodriguez-Spencer placed sixth and junior Marcus Harrington third, respectively; redshirt sophomore John Meeks earned All-American recognition in Greco-Roman wrestling competition; the Iowa State team finished fourth overall, their best performance since 2000!
