09/09/2026
𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗚𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗖𝗞-𝗜𝗡: 𝗨𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗔 𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 🫎📚🤼♂️
My Dad once told me when I was young (as I tell my athletes now): “People notice hustle.” Whether it was my brother and I drilling at practice, baling hay for the local farmer, or splitting and stacking wood—we always hustled and still do to this day. When recognized by others, or applied to your own adventures and endeavors, hustle can sometimes become that competitive advantage; that X factor. Coach Pankil Chander has that exact X factor.
The very first thing that I observed about Coach Chander, years ago, was that he moves at a calculated, purposeful speed—and his previous tenure at Penn College proved just that. Pankil built a respectable program in a brief stint at a college that has very unique educational opportunities. I mean, Coach’s recruiting efforts speak for themself, and I know he’s up for overcoming another difficult obstacle. And coming into a fresh program such as Utica, I do not doubt that he’ll achieve just that and then some—he’s a hustler.
When we interviewed Pankil about the Utica University program, Coach Chander had this to say about the current state of the Pioneers and the future to come.
𝘕𝘠𝘞𝘕: 𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘜𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘴. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘴?
Coach Chander: “It was time to become a head coach again. After finishing up my graduate degree at Springfield College, I took on the challenge of becoming the head coach at Penn College—and that program was in a similar position to where Utica is now. After two seasons at Penn College, we went from being an afterthought to a respected, relevant program. Following that momentum, I received an offer from Wilkes University (as an Associate Head Coach) and had to make a tough decision to go back to the program that shaped me. Those next two seasons at Wilkes reminded me of the transformative impact that I value in being a head coach. But it couldn’t be at any program; it had to be a program that has the bones to be successful, and that is what landed me at Utica.”
𝘕𝘠𝘞𝘕: 𝘈𝘴 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘜𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢 𝘸𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵?
Coach Chander: “In terms of program development, we are working on expanding our wrestling room and moving into a new space, which will be a massive development for our program, and we're excited to be in that new space soon. In less than a month, we have managed to galvanize a community around the program, secure over 60 unique donors, and raise over $6,000 for our program and student-athletes (which will be able to immediately enhance their experience). We also have organically grown our social media following by over 1,500 new followers between Facebook and Instagram in just one summer, and along with that, our visibility and interest from many high-level prospects have increased. There were many areas of the program that I identified early on that needed more attention and effort, and now we are redefining how our wrestlers think about college wrestling and implementing high expectations for how we think and put effort into our academics, training, relationships with teammates, and our responsibility in collectively building a program and the community around it.”
𝘕𝘠𝘞𝘕: 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘜𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢 𝘸𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮? 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩-𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺?
Coach Chander: “Well, I'm transparent and honest about who we are and where we are going. I tell prospects and families all the time that if you want to be a part of a program with decades of history and many All-Americans and National Champs on the wall to point to, then Utica Wrestling won't be able to give you that. I have been a part of many of those programs, and it's a great experience, but there is something unique and inspiring about being a part of a build for the first time. The life skills and confidence you gain while being courageous enough to bet on yourself and others while building something for the first time is invaluable. You'll develop lifelong relationships with your teammates during your time here while making an impact in all areas of the program and be able to look back years after graduating and talk about how you were part of the first group that changed a nationally relevant Utica Men's Wrestling program, and no one will ever be able to take that away from you!”
𝘕𝘠𝘞𝘕: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘜𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢 𝘗𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦?
Coach Chander: “Being a program that was defined by their commitment to every element of the experience. A program with student-athletes that are open to uncommon ways of thinking and connecting, that love working hard, that love leading in service to others, that love challenges and are known for being resilient. We want to be a place where people know they can come because it will be a destination for continual improvement.”
𝘕𝘠𝘞𝘕: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶?
Coach Chander: “I learned that we have a coachable group that is up for the challenge of transforming this program and can rise to high expectations. It's a great group of young men.”
𝘕𝘠𝘞𝘕: 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳'𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘺𝘦 𝘰𝘯—𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴?
Coach Chander: “Rian Kirker and Matt Bonato are seniors who have worked hard, and I am excited to walk alongside them on their growth journey in a new system of training and development. We have several new faces that can make a difference right away. Steven McCann and Eli Desir are two newcomers who competed at the NYS Championships last season, and many others have the propensity to grow tremendously over the next few months.”
𝘕𝘠𝘞𝘕: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘗𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸? 𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮?
Coach Chander: “As I have told the guys many times, we are constantly in the process of becoming. We will never arrive at success. Our success will be defined by how we actively commit to being disciplined around how we contribute to our academics, training, team, community, and the many overall metrics within developing a program. Ultimately, success is defined by how our perspective is shaped around hard work and improvement.”
𝘕𝘠𝘞𝘕: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘢 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸?
Coach Chander: “We want our wrestlers to be active in the community and surrounding area and build a community around our program that is made up of avid fans and friends of the program and the people within it.”
𝘕𝘠𝘞𝘕: 𝘐𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘗𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥?
Coach Chander: “We'll be a program that is a place that student-athletes and families are excited to be a part of because we provide our wrestlers with more than just a wrestling experience and one that inspires others to truly want to be a part of something bigger than themselves.”
We wish Coach Chander and the Pioneer wrestling program the best of success!
