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Head Coach Dan Wirnsberger

Dan Wirnsberger

Dan Wirnsberger returns for his third season as head coach of the Huskies. In two seasons, Wirnsberger has led the Huskies to a 16-16 overall record. He also coached two NCAA qualifiers and a PSAC champion a season ago. A season ago, Wirnsberger had the 14th ranked recruiting class in the nation while the class of 2008 is ranked 20th. Wirnsberger came to Bloomsburg after spending six years as an assistant at Virginia Tech.

A 1995 graduate of Michigan State University, Wirnsberger was an outstanding 158-pounder for the Spartans from 1990-1995. The Greer, SC native earned All-American honors three times while wrestling for coach Tom Minkel. A three-year captain of the MSU wrestling team, Wirnsberger was named the team's MVP in 1995 after posting a record of 35-8 and winning the Big 10 title and finishing as the NCAA runner-up in his weight class. Overall in his career, Wirnsberger posted a record of 120-44, third most wins in school history. In NCAA competition, Wirnsberger posted 11 wins for the Spartans in three trips to nationals. During his career at Michigan State, the team went from a struggling program to an 12th-place national ranking his sophomore year, 25th his junior year and third in the nation his senior season.

Following graduation, Wirnsberger continued his wrestling career at the Dave Schultz Wrestling Club while training for the 1997 World Team Trials. He qualified for the trials after placing sixth at the USA Senior Freestyle Tournament, his first senior competition. Participating at a higher weight class of 167 pounds, Wirnsberger defeated such renowned opponents as two-time NCAA champion Marcus Mollica of Arizona State and Iowa's NCAA champion Darryl Weber.

After graduation, Wirnsberger began work as a coach for the Mason (Michigan) Youth Wrestling Program. He later moved back to South Carolina where he served as head wrestling coach at Greer High School. In addition to his head coaching duties, Wirnsberger was the junior varsity football coach and taught classes for autistic students at the Greer Middle School.

In 1996 he became an assistant at Virginia Tech where he was part of a staff that built the Hokies into a top-25 national program. He was part of staff that helped coach three NCAA All-Americans and one that sent a school-record five individuals to the NCAA championships in 1999-2000. He also helped lead the Hokies to a 19th place finish at the NCAA championships in 1999-00 and a 23rd place finish in 2000-01. At Tech, Wirnsberger was also responsible for organizing practices, supervising the strength and conditioning program and individual workouts. He also organized Tech's team and individual summer camps and recruiting efforts.

Wirnsberger is married to the former Dana Bottiglieri.