Head Coach: David Pacheco
Sacramento City College has one of the finest wrestling programs in the state. It is one of the most demanding and successful programs at SCC. The coaches responsible for much of that success are head coach David Pacheco and Associate Head Coach Walter Ulrich. Pacheco is entering his 31st season in coaching, 28 at SCC. Ulrich is starting his 14th season of coaching at SCC.
In 1996, these two coaches helped lead the Panthers to the school’s first ever State Wrestling Championship. They followed that with a 2000 State Dual Championship.
Since Coach Pacheco started coaching at SCC, they have won 9 Conference Titles and 3 Regional Titles. He has coached 15 State Champions, 116 State Placers, 34 Regional Champions and 75 Conference Champions. He has also had 55 Academic All-Americans in his program, the most of any Community College in California. Currently, there are 15 wrestlers from SCC competing in wrestling at the four year level. In addition to his duties at SCC, Coach Pacheco has led 6 cultural exchange teams to Japan, and hosted an equal number of Japanese teams in Sacramento.
Coach Pacheco is a Panther Alumnus (1976-77), where he finished 4th in the State as a sophomore. He also was one of three SCC wrestlers to earn Academic All-American awards that season. He transferred to Idaho State University where he was a 2 time Big Sky Conference Champion and 2 time Division I National qualifier. He once again made the All Academic team as well.
A Sacramento area product, Coach Pacheco graduated from Luther Burbank HS and Sacramento City College. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Physical Education and Special Education from Idaho State University. He earned a Master of Science degree in Physical Education from CSU Sacramento. He resides in Sacramento with his wife, Stephanie. His son is a senior in college at Dickinson State University in North Dakota where he and three other former Panthers are part of the DSU Wrestling program.
Associate Head Coach: Walter Ulrich
Coach Ulrich is entering his 13th season of coaching at SCC. He was an assistant at SCC for six years before becoming the Associate Head Coach. He has had coaching stints at CSU Chico, UC Davis and Santa Rosa JC. He was also a Senior Staff Instructor at the Vaughn Hitchcock Wrestling Camps for 13 years.
Ulrich is the main technique coach at SCC, and his knowledge of the techniques and strategies of the sport shows through the team success. He was honored with the AFLAC Assistant Coach of Year award in 2003.
Coach Ulrich was a graduate of Corning HS and then entered Butte College. He was a 2 time All-American for Butte College. He transferred to CSU Chico, where he was a 2 time Division II All-American as well. He graduated from CSUC with a degree in Child Devolpment and a minor in Psychology and Business Administration. He is an elementary school teacher in the Del Paso Heights School District.
In his “off-season”, Coach Ulrich assists former SCC State Champion, Pat Coffing at Elk Grove HS. Elk Grove won the section team title this past season, and finished 3rd in the State Championships.
Coach Ulrich lives in Elk Grove with his wife Katie, and his sons, Sean and Jake.
Assistant Coach: Lawrence Saenz
Assistant Coach: Will Simmons
