Lincoln ?Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine (WIN) announced Friday that Nebraska’s Mark Manning is the recipient of its Dan Gable Coach of the Year award for 2009. The honor is named after Dan Gable, the legendary University of Iowa coach who won 15 NCAA team championships between 1978 and 1997. <?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>
Manning has lead Nebraska to unprecedented success in his nine seasons in Lincoln. He guided the Huskers to their first Big 12 wrestling title during the 2008-09 season, the first conference title for NU since winning the 1995 Big Eight Championship. Later in the month, Manning and the Huskers finished fourth at the NCAA Championships, their second consecutive top-five finish. During the dual season, NU posted a 17-3-1 record, including a 10-dual unbeaten streak.
In total, Manning has coached 27 Huskers to All-America honors, including three national champions. Nebraska has five top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships, including back-to-back top-five finishes in consecutive years for the first time in program history. Manning is also the winningest coach in Husker history with a dual-winning percentage of .733 (126-45-3) during his time at NU.
He is the reigning two-time Big 12 Coach of the Year and was named a coach of the 2009 U.S. Freestyle World Team in late April.