Paul Bianchi was hired as an App State Wrestling assistant coach in June 2024.

Bianchi came to Boone from Minnesota State, where he had been an assistant coach for the previous two seasons. He was an NCAA Championships qualifier for both Little Rock (at 133 pounds) and North Dakota State (at 125 pounds) during a standout Division I wrestling career that lasted from 2016-21.
 
After becoming the first NCAA qualifier in Little Rock history and being named a Division I Scholar All-American by the National Wrestling Coaches Association, he served as a graduate assistant with the Trojans the following season, then helped Minnesota State produce a third-place-finishing All-American at the 2023 NCAA Division II Championships in his first season on the Mavericks’ staff. Last season, they had seven wrestlers named Scholar All-Americans, and the team ranked fourth in Division II with a 3.438 GPA.

In addition to his coaching experience at Minnesota State and Little Rock, Bianchi has also coached for the Central Arkansas Christian Schools (2021-22), the USA Wrestling-associated Wisconsin Wrestling Federation (2019 summer) and the Askren Wrestling Academy Camp (as a counselor/clinician in 2018-19).

Bianchi earned an undergraduate degree in applied communications from Little Rock in 2020 and a master's degree in sport management from Little Rock in 2022.

A native of Two Rivers, Wis., he was a three-time state champion with a 205-6 record in his prep career before embarking upon a five-year collegiate career. He won 50 matches over his final four seasons, including 24 matches during the 2020-21 season in which he posted one victory at the NCAA Championships.