Paul Rademacher is entering his sixth year with the Indiana Tech Department of Athletics and embarking on his fifth season of competition (2024-25) as the head women's wrestling coach, of which he was named the inaugural coach of the program on April 8, 2019.
During his tenure, Rademacher has coached seven NAIA All-Americans, 18 Mid-South All-Conference Team members, 38 Mid-South All-Academic Team members, and 29 NAIA Scholar-Athletes.
Last season, Rademacher led Tech to a 17-11 record in dual meets and would finish in second place at the Mid-South Conference Tournament, their highest finish in program history. Tehani Soares would become Tech’s first-ever conference champion, winning the MSC 109lb weight class, while also becoming Tech women’s wrestling’s first four-time NAIA All-American. At the NAIA National Championship, Tech would finish 15th as a team with Soares and Mikayla Young becoming All-Americans. Overall, Tech would have six Mid-South All-Conference Team members, 16 Mid-South All-Academic Team members, two NAIA All-Americans, and 13 NAIA Scholar-Athletes. The Warriors would finish the year ranked 13th in the final NAIA Coaches' Top 20 Poll.
In 2022-23, Rademacher led the program to a 24-7 overall record in dual meets, the most wins in the program's three-year history. The Warriors came into the season ranked at number ten in the NAIA Top 20 Poll, and stayed ranked all season, reaching as high as seventh. Competing in the Mid-South Conference, the Warriors would finish fourth in the ten-team conference tournament meet. At the inaugural NAIA Women's Wrestling National Championship, Tech would end in the top half of the field, finishing 17th out of the 34 teams competing. Tehani Soares would represent Indiana Tech as an All-American after finishing fifth in her weight class at the meet, becoming the first women’s wrestler at Tech to earn All-American status three times. Tech also had five Mid-South All-Conference Team members, 13 Mid-South All-Academic Team members, and ten NAIA Scholar-Athletes. Tech would finish the year ranked 11th in the final NAIA Coaches' Top 20 Poll.
In 2021-22, he led the Warriors to an 11-6 record in dual meets and finished in fourth at the Mid-South Conference Championships and 11th at the NAIA National Invitational. Tech had three student-athletes, Sam Snow, Tehani Soares, and Elly Kuzma garner NAIA All-American honors. Snow and Soares both finished with fourth-place results in their respective weight classes, while Kuzma finished in seventh. Three Warriors would earn MSC All-Conference honors, while seven were named to the All-Academic team, and four as NAIA Scholar-Athletes. Tech finished the year ranked 15th in the final NAIA Coaches' Top 20 Poll.
During the Warriors inaugural first season (2020-21), Rademacher navigated the team through the COVID-19 pandemic with a 2-6 mark in dual action while taking fourth at the Mid-South Conference Championships and 14th at the NAIA National Invitational. Tech had two student-athletes, Sam Snow and Tehani Soares, garner NAIA All-American honors with fourth-place results in their respective weight classes, while the Warriors finished the year ranked 14th in the final NAIA Coaches' Top 20 Poll and rose as high as eighth in the rankings (Jan. 28, 2021). Four student-athletes, Alyssa Schuller, Charmayne DeLong, Snow and Soraes, also earned All-Conference honors following the MSC Championships, while Korissa VanOver and Whitley Blake were named to both the MSC All-Academic team and as NAIA Scholar-Athletes.
A former wrestler at Oregon State University, Rademacher comes to Tech following a two-year stint at Southern Oregon University the Associate Head Coach for the women’s wrestling team. During his two years with the Raiders he went 14-14 and led the team to an eighth place finish at the first-ever NAIA National Invitational this past March and a 12th-place performance at the Women’s College Wrestling Association (WCWA) Championships in 2018. He mentored six All-Americans during his time in Ashland.
Prior to his time at SOU, Rademacher served as the head coach for the boys and girls wrestling teams at Henley High School (Ore.) for two seasons and was in charge of Mount Vernon High School (Wash.) before that. he had 40 wrestlers place during his time at the prep ranks while four became state champions under his tutelage, while he recorded two top-four finishes in the Oregon State Athletic Association (OSAA) Tournament.
A 1999 graduate of Chiloquin High School, Rademacher competed from 1999-2003 at Oregon State, where he named to the Pac-10 All-Academic Second Team as a senior. He continued to compete post-collegiately, and in 2014 placed second in the Veteran’s Greco Roman Division B 76-kilogram class and third in the Veteran’s Freestyle Division B 76-kilogram class. He was a quarterfinalist in the 2014 US Open Freestyles at 74-kilograms and won the 2012 Washington State Tournament Greco-Roman in the 85-kilogram division.
Rademacher is a USA Wrestling Bronze Certified Coach and was the head coach of the Oregon Junior National Team from 2015-18. He served as a wildland firefighter from 2000-15 at Baker River IHC was a member of the U.S. Forest Service in Washington.
He received his Master’s Degree in Teaching – Science from Western Governors University in 2017 and graduated from OSU with a Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise and Sports Science with a concentration in Fitness Management. Rademacher and his wife, Gretchen, have been married since 2004.
