Chad Vandiver joined the Gannon women’s wrestling program in the summer of 2023 after his wife Erin was hired as the head coach of the women’s wrestling program.
Like his wife, Chad holds an impressive resume in wrestling. He served as an assistant wrestling coach with Erin at Wyoming Seminary. He was the former wrestling coach at RiNo Sport Galleri in Denver, CO and served as an assistant coach at Colorado State University - Pueblo.
Vandiver was a U.S. Senior Open finalist in Greco-Roman wrestling and a former resident athlete at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. He has served as a multiple time national team coach for Team Illinois and Team Colorado. He organized and led international delegations to Russia, Japan, Estonia, Italy, and Austria.
Vandiver was a high school standout at Harlem High School in Roscoe, Ill. He was a four-time NIC-9 Conference champion and won a pair of regional titles while qualifying for the IHSA State Championships his junior and senior seasons. He led Harlem to a regional title as a senior and finished his career with 134 wins. Vandiver finished eighth at the USA Wrestling Junior National Championships and was the Illinois USA Wrestling Junior freestyle state champion. He was an eight-time Wrestling USA All-American.
He went on to wrestle at Northern Illinois for four seasons, competing at 125 and 133 lbs., before concluding his career at Colorado State-Pueblo. He was named the NIU Freshman of the Year in 2004-05 after winning 21 matches
Vandiver competed on the senior Greco-Roman circuit in a dozen countries and holds senior level Greco-Roman wins against multiple World & Olympic medalists. He was a Dave Schultz Memorial International silver medalist, along with a Haparanda Cup, Sweden, bronze medalist and a Grand Prix of Slovenija, bronze medalist.
Vandiver graduated from Colorado State University-Pueblo in 2014 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Science along with a minor in Coaching. The Vandiver’s have two children, Nelson (7) and Reina (4).
