California State University - Bakersfield Men's Wrestling

Luke Smith is entering his seventh season as the Head Wrestling Coach at Cal State Bakersfield in Fall of 2025. Smith was named Head Coach in June of 2020, after serving as Interim Head Coach in 2019-20 and as the team's Lead Assistant Coach the previous two seasons. In his first six seasons at the helm of the Bakersfield program, his squads have produced one All-American, eight NCAA Qualifiers, three Pac-12 Champions, ten Academic All-Pac-12 honorees, six NWCA All-Academic Team members, and two CSC Academic All-District honorees. Ahead of the 2024-25 season, Smith landed one of the biggest recruits in the history of CSUB Wrestling, signing former NCAA Champion AJ Ferrari to the Roadrunner squad. Smith helped Ferrari return to prominence after spending nearly two years away from collegiate competition, guiding him to All-American honors anda third-place finish at the 2025 NCAA Championships. Smith had been an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan University since 2011 and was promoted to the head assistant wrestling position in 2014. In his last season with the Eagles, he helped produce a school-record five national qualifiers and the program's first All-American since 1999.  The Eagles also had three Academic All-Americans and placed third at the Mid American Conference Tournament.  Prior to Eastern Michigan, Smith spent three seasons at Old Dominion University.  He started his coaching career at Central Michigan University from 2008-09 after a successful four-year career with the Chippewas.   Smith was a four-time NCAA qualifier at Central Michigan and was ranked as high as fourth in the country at 125 pounds.  During his senior season, he led the Chippewas to a No. 2 national ranking, which was the highest in program history.  He also earned MAC Freshman of the Year after the completion of his first season in Mount Pleasant. He currently holds the record for two of the top ten fastest pins in Central Michigan history clocking in at 11 and 13 seconds, thus giving him the nickname "Lightning" Luke Smith.  Smith earned a bachelor's degree at CMU in 2008 in Sports Management and Athletic Coaching.   In 2004, he finished fourth at the Greco-Roman Olympic Trials and came in fourth again in 2006 at the Senior Freestyle World Team Trials.  Also in 2006, he finished eighth at the University Freestyle World Championships.   As a prep athlete, Smith was a two-time Wisconsin state champion and produced a 114-2 record.   

Orozco is the 12th Roadrunner wrestler to win at least 100 matches in a career as he wrapped up his time at CSUB with a 100-48 record. He became the first four-time NCAA Division I qualifier from CSUB since 2002 (Matt Sanchez, Efren Ceballos) as a senior when he finished third at the Pac-10 Championships. Orozco took home the 197-pound title at the Pac-10 Tournament as a junior. Orozco earned first team Academic All-Conference honors as a junior and was selected second team Academic All-Conference as a freshman and as a sophomore.

Mendoza had two wrestlers qualify for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships (Tyler Iwamura at 125, Riley Orozco at 197). Year two saw Bakersfield win eight duals and have two wrestlers, Iwamura and Bryce Hammond, win Pac-12 Championships. Hammond repeated as the 174-pound Pac-12 Champion in 2014 and became the first CSU Bakersfield wrestler to earn All-American honors since 2010 with an eighth place showing at the 2014 National Championships. In 2014-15, two wrestlers, Adam Fierro and Ian Nickell, qualified for the national tournament after top three placings at the Pac-12 Championships. Mendoza is 26-33 in dual competition. During Mendozas eight years as the head assistant coach, the Roadrunners compiled a 69-42 dual record, good for a .621 winning percentage. Mendoza has also been instrumental in turning out 58 Pac-10 Championships placewinners, six Pac-10 individual champions, 38 NCAA Division I Championships qualifiers and five NCAA Division I All-Americans. Mendozas Bakersfield tenure began in 1995 when he earned a starting position in the Roadrunner lineup as a true freshman. As a sophomore in 1996, he placed fourth at the Pac-10 Championships. He was the Pac-10 runner-up in 1998 and placed third in 1999. One of 14 Roadrunners all-time to be named a three-time NCAA Championships qualifier, Mendoza concluded his career with a 76-55 record. After receiving his bachelors degree at CSUB in public administration in 1999, Mendoza took his first coaching job as the assistant coach at Adams State in Alamosa, Colo. Following the 2002 season, and after completing his masters degree in physical education at Adams State, Mendoza returned to his alma mater for the 2003 season.

Ernest James is entering his second season at Cal State Bakersfield in Fall of 2025, serving the Roadrunner wrestling team as an Assistant Coach. In his first season in Bakersfield, the `Runners produced one All-American, three NCAA Qualifiers, one Pac-12 Champion, five Academic All-Pac-12 honorees, two NWCA All-Academic Team members, and three CSC Academic All-District honorees. James played a vital role in 2024-25 in guiding Bakersfield heavyweight Jake Andrews to a 24-5 record and the senior's first NCAA Championship. James came to Bakersfield with a wide breadth of coaching experience, including spending the 2023-24 season as the Associate Head Coach at Hofstra University. In his year at Hofstra, James helped guide one member of the Pride to the NCAA Championships as heavyweight graduate transfer Keaton Kluever qualified for the first time in his career. In the four years prior to his arrival at Hofstra, James served his alma mater, Edinboro University, as an Assistant Coach. He helped coach six NCAA qualifiers and 18 Mid-American Conference placewinners. James also played a vital part in the program’s 2020 recruiting class being ranked Top 25 in the nation. As a student-athlete with the Scots, James was a three-time NCAA Qualifier at heavyweight, compiling a career record of 100-49. He won one EWL and one PSAC championship and he was a four-time conference placewinner. At the time of his graduation, James ranked eighth in Edinboro history in career falls (37). Following his collegiate career, James also spent time at the Valley Regional Training Center, run out of Fresno State, giving him important insight to the state of wrestling in California. A native of Medford, N.Y., James holds a degree in HPE-Human Performance from Edinboro University.