During Chuck Pipher’s wrestling career (1985-1989) at the University of Southern Colorado (now Colorado State University at Pueblo), he won three National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national titles at 167 pounds (1987, 1988 and 1989), was twice named the national tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler, twice earned the NAIA’s Scholar-Athlete Award and was a four-time RMAC champion.
Pipher became a force from the moment he stepped into the USC wrestling room. His first year in the program he won the RMAC title at his weight class and finished a runner-up at the NAIA national tournament. His lofty national finish as freshman earned him the first of his four All-American honors and also landed him a spot as the only NAIA wrestler on the Amateur Wrestling News All-Freshman team.
As a sophomore, Pipher picked up his first national title. In addition, he successfully defended his RMAC title and amassed a 47-8 record, while pinning 23 of his opponents.
A two-time Colorado state champion from Hotchkiss High School, he started a two-year stretch his junior season in which he was possibly the most dominant NAIA wrestler at any weight class. Pipher steamrolled his way to a 48-5 record and won both the RMAC and national crowns at 167. At the national tournament, he was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler and was also named the Gregorian Award winner, which he garnered for pinning the most opponents in the least amount of time. Pipher pinned four of his five opponents at the tournament.
In 1989, Pipher’s senior season, he repeated as RMAC and national champion, piling up a 37-2 mark. After winning the finals match, 10-7, and pinning four of his other opponents at nationals,
Pipher was again recognized as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler. He finished his four-years at USC with a 161-29-1 record.
The recognition that followed Pipher’s senior season is a testament to the quality of his career. He became only the second NAIA wrestler in 23 years to be invited to the National Wrestling Association All-Star Meet at the Palestra in Philadelphia, Penn. Pipher took on Oklahoma State’s Mike Farrell and lost by a narrow 4-2 margin.
The honors continued for Pipher as the Colorado Sports Hall Fame named him the state’s Amateur Athlete of the Year in 1989. Seven years later in 1996, Pipher was inducted in the NAIA Hall of Fame, becoming the only athlete from USC to ever earn such an honor.
In the classroom, Pipher also excelled. He was twice named an NAIA Scholar-Athlete (equivalent to Academic All-American) and earned RMAC Scholar-Athlete Honors on two separate occasions. He graduated from USC in 1989 with a degree in Industrial Education.
Some of Pipher's other noteworthy career mat accomplishments are as follows: three-time Colorado Collegiate Champion; Collegiate Tournament Most Outstanding Wrestler in 1988 and 1989; Southern Colorado Open Champion in 1988 and 1989; KRDO-TV Athlete of the Week in 1987; and the USC Male Athlete of the Year in 1987, 1988 and 1989. In 2009 Pipher was selected as the best Wrestler in RMAC history for the Centennial celebration. In 2005 he was named head wrestling coach at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction.