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The student becomes the master: Chris Pendelton's return to Stillwater

Chris Pendleton’s high school wrestling team was participating at a camp in Reno, Nevada.

There, the 145-pound California State champion impressed Oklahoma State coach John Smith.

“We would’ve never found him if we weren’t at that camp,” Smith said. “We took a chance on him and when he came to Stillwater, he fell in love with it.”

Twenty years, two NCAA championships and three All-Americans later, Pendleton is returning to Stillwater as the first-year coach of Oregon State’s wrestling program.

Pendleton began his collegiate career when injuries at his weight class thrust him into the starting lineup as a freshman.