Cal Poly Wrestling Coaching Staff

 Brendan Buckley

Head Coach
Second Season

Brendan Buckley, head wrestling coach at Ivy League member Columbia University in New York for the last 11 seasons, was named Cal Poly’s head wrestling coach on June 21, 2011. 

“Brendan has an excellent record in developing student-athletes,” said Mustang director of athletics Don Oberhelman. “Brendan has demonstrated that he knows how to fulfill his first responsibility as a coach, which is to make sure we honor our commitment to our student-athletes’ academic achievement. We’ve hired the right coach to ensure we continue to honor those ideals.

“Brendan also believes, as I do, that all of our student-athletes should strive to leave Cal Poly with a diploma and a championship,” Oberhelman added. “I’m very excited about what he will accomplish at Cal Poly.”

Buckley, who earned a 14-3 win at 142 pounds in Fresno State’s 24-16 dual meet victory against Cal Poly in 1997 at Mott Gym, praised Cal Poly’s reputation for athletic and academic excellence.

“Cal Poly athletics has a rich tradition that I am well aware of. My goal is to add to those traditions,”  Buckley said. “I am really excited to be here and I can’t wait to begin working with the team. We will strive for excellence on the mat and in the classroom.”

Buckley received the Bob Bubb Coaching Excellence Award for NCAA Division I on May 31, 2011. Presented by the National Wrestling Coaches Association the award recognizes an outstanding coach who epitomizes the qualities and characteristics of a role model and mentor for developing young student-athletes.

In his first season at Cal Poly, Buckley guided the Mustangs to a 6-7 overall dual meet record, including a 3-2 mark in Pac-12 duals. Four Mustangs qualified for the NCAA Championships, with Boris Novachkov placing third at 141 pounds and Ryan DesRoches earning an eighth-place finish at 174 pounds.

In his last year at Columbia, Buckley led the Lions to a 9-6 overall record and a third-place finish in the Ivy League. The team placed seventh overall at the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Championships in March and two wrestlers advanced to the round of 16 at the NCAA Division I National Championship.

Off the mat, Columbia shined in the classroom as well, ranking third nationally with a 3.2917 team cumulative grade-point average. The Lions were named to the National Wrestling Coaches Association Academic Team each year under Buckley's guidance and ranked in the top 10 in five of those 11 years.

Buckley’s accomplishments at Columbia include five years of nationally ranked recruiting classes, 20 NCAA qualifiers and a school-record eight EIWA placewinners in the 2006-07 season. He was named EIWA Coach of the Year in 2005.

In the last six years under Buckley's guidance, Columbia earned 26 All-Ivy League selections, 16 NCAA qualifiers and the program's first All-American in 23 years. Matt Palmer finished eighth in the 2005 and 2007 NCAA Championships at 165 and 174 pounds, respectively. In the 2008-09 season, Buckley coached Columbia's first EIWA champion in 13 years.

Buckley was named EIWA Coach of the Year as he led the Lions to a fourth-place finish at the 2005 EIWA Championships, the team’s best finish at the meet since 1931. The Lions also won the EIWA Wrestling Officials Sportsmanship Award.

Columbia made further improvements in 2007, as the team earned its first-ever top 25 ranking, eight wrestlers placed at the EIWA Championships, four team members qualified for nationals and Palmer earned his second All-America honor.

Buckley, 71-84-1 in 11 dual meet seasons with the Lions, came to Columbia from the University of Virginia, where he was the top assistant coach from 1998 to 2000. He helped lead the Cavaliers to two straight top-25 finishes in the NCAA Championships, while helping develop three All-Americans and seven NCAA qualifiers, including national finalist Steve Garland at 125 pounds.

Prior to Virginia, Buckley was the chief assistant coach at UC Davis as well as at Sacramento City College. During his tenure at Sacramento CC, five wrestlers earned All-America status.

Originally from Long Island, Buckley lived in Buffalo, N.Y., before moving to Orlando, Fla. He was a high school All-American and Florida state champion at 135 pounds for Lake Howell High and then starred at Clemson where he made the freshman All-American team his first year and reached the NCAA Round of 16 as a 142-pound sophomore.

When Clemson dropped wrestling after the 1994-95 season, Buckley transferred to Fresno State, where he wrestled under Dennis DeLiddo. Buckley was a Western Athletic Conference champion for the Bulldogs and earned All-America status with a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Championship at 142 pounds in 1997.

Buckley graduated from Fresno State in 1997 with a bachelor’s degree in speech communication and completed his master's degree in sports management at Columbia. Buckley and his wife Julia celebrated their second wedding anniversary Aug. 28.

 

Mitch Monteiro

Assistant Coach
Second Season

Mitch Monteiro, a Paso Robles High School graduate and three-time NCAA Division I national qualifier while wrestling at Cal State Bakersfield, was added to Brendan Buckley's coaching staff at Cal Poly in November 2011.

Monteiro earned NCAA All-American honors with a fifth-place finish at 285 pounds in the 2010 NCAA Championships en route to a 21-7 record as a senior with the Roadrunners.

He also qualified for the nationals in 2008, posting a 3-3 mark as a sophomore after transferring from Cuesta College, and in 2009 when he compiled a 29-8 record as a junior.

"We are very pleased to announce the hiring of Mitch Monteiro, a local product an a former NCAA All-American," said Buckley. " It can be difficult to find quality coaches that wrestled heavyweight and yet are agile and light enough to work with 184- and 197-pounders and we did just that.  

"Mitch having wrestled at Paso Robles High School will also present us with the opportunity to strengthen our ties to the local wrestling community, something that is very important to us," Buckley added.

Monteiro attended Cal Poly from 2005-06 and was a member of the Mustang wrestling team, but had his season cut short due to an injury. He attended Cuesta College during the 2006-07 season, but that same injury kept him from competing as well.

Monteiro placed second in the Pacific-10 Conference Championships as a sophomore at Cal State Bakersfield and captured conference titles in both 2009 and 2010. He was named the Roadrunners' Male Athlete of the Year in 2010.

At Paso Robles High School, Monteiro claimed four league championships as well as three CIF-Southern Section individual titles. He was a two-time CIF-Southern Section Masters Meet placewinner with a first and a third, and twice qualified for the state finals, finishing second and third.

Monteiro completed bachelor's degree requirements in criminal justice at Cal State Bakersfield in 2013. He has been working as a line counselor at Aarons Boys Home in Atascadero since February 2011, providing supervision, guidance and counseling to at-risk youth and juvenile delinquents.

 

 Ryan DesRoches

Assistant Coach
First Season

Ryan DesRoches, who won 110 matches in his wrestling career at Cal Poly and earned his first All-American honor last March, was hired as an assistant coach with the Mustang wrestling team on August 1, 2012.

"Ryan epitomizes what we are looking for in a coach here at Cal Poly," said Buckley. "In the one year that I was fortunate enough to work with him as he became an NCAA All-American, I witnessed an ambitious young man with a unrelenting work ethic.  Furthermore, he remains one of the strongest leaders I have ever coached.

"Ryan is mature beyond his years and will serve as an outstanding role model for every young man on our team," Buckley added.  "We are very excited to have Ryan on our staff."

DesRoches, who along with Boris Novachkov were named Cal Poly's co-most outstanding wrestlers for the 2011-12 season, won his first 19 matches in his senior season, finishing 27-6 overall and 110-37 in his four-year Mustang career. The three-time NCAA qualifier finished eighth at 174 pounds in the NCAA National Championships last March in St. Louis.

"I am thankful for the coaching staff and the athletic department for giving me this opportunity to share what I have learned with the Cal Poly program," said DesRoches, "and I am excited about making this transition in my wrestling career from athlete to coach."

DesRoches was second at 174 pounds in the 2012 Pac-12 finals, improving on his pair of third-place finishes in 2010 and 2011. Posting a 9-2 record in duals this past season, DesRoches is a graduate of Riverside High School in Deer Park, Wash., where he won three state titles and posted a 134-16 record in four varsity seasons.

DesRoches was 16-13 in his freshman season, 34-10 with 17 falls as a sophomore and 33-8 with 14 more pins as a junior. He was 32-10 in dual meets and recorded 37 falls in his Mustang career. DesRoches’ 17 falls during the 2009-10 season tied a school record.

DesRoches and his wife Kaitlin have one son, Titus, born in May 2011.

 

 Kyle Gilchrist

Volunteer Assistant Coach
First Season

Kyle Gilchrist, a two-year team captain and four-year letter winner in wrestling at Columbia University in New York City, was hired in September 2012 as a volunteer assistant wrestling coach at Cal Poly.

Gilchrist compiled an 81-52 career record at Columbia, wrestling under current Mustang head coach Brendan Buckley in his first three seasons with the Lions.

As a senior, Gilchrist was 27-15 overall, including a 3-2 mark in Ivy League matches, and was an All-Ivy League honorable mention. Among his victories were two pins and six major decisions. He placed sixth in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Championships.

Gilchrist was 18-11 as a junior, 24-12 as a sophomore and 12-13 in his freshman season. He was in the national polls at 125 and 133 pounds as both a junior and senior.

Gilchrist is a 2008 graduate of Jefferson Area High School in Jefferson, Ohio, where he was a three-time Ohio state medalist (one second-place finish and two fourth-place finishes), two-year team captain and two-time AAU All-American. In recording 175 career prep wins, Gilchrist was a three-time Ashtabula County Wrestler of the Year honoree, class valedictorian and three-time Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association academic All-Ohioan selection.

Born in Painesville, Ohio, Gilchrist earned his bachelor's degree in history in 2012 at Columbia with a concentration in 20th Century U.S. History. He currently is pursuing a master's degree in business administration at Cal Poly.

Gilchrist has served as a senior counselor at the U.S. Military Academy Wrestling Camp and is coach of the Meathead Wrestling Club in San Luis Obispo.