Justin Pearch was named the Head Coach of the Aurora University men's and women's wrestling programs in June of 2020. He was selected to build both programs with the men's program returning to AU following an over three decade hiatus and the women's program being new as it is among the NCAA's emerging sports.
Pearch came to AU after four seasons as the head wrestling coach at Aurora Christian High School. In his time at Aurora Christian, the program produced an Illinois State Championship and two more two three finishes in a program that began in 2016. Additionally, he has served as the Illinois National Dual Meet Head Coach since 2015 and as the Illinois Cadet and Junior National Team Coach since 2013.
No stranger to the local club wrestling scene, Pearch has been a coach at Izzy Style School of Wrestling for the past eight years, training wrestlers of all levels in various disciplines of wrestling (Folkstyle, Greco-Roman, Freestyle, Grappling, etc).
Pearch wrestled collegiately at the University of Oregon where he finished second at the 2007 Pac-10 championships at 141 and earned a place in the NCAA Division I national tournament. He spent two years at North Idaho College where he earned All-American honors in both seasons. He is a 2007 graduate of the University of Oregon with a bachelor's degree in sociology.
