BLOOMSBURG, PA —Bloomsburg University athletic director Mary Gardner has announced that Dan Wirnsberger has been named the school's head wrestling coach.

Wirnsberger comes to Bloomsburg after having been an assistant coach at Virginia Tech the last six years.

“I am honored to be named the head wrestling coach at Bloomsburg,” said Wirnsberger. “The school has an outstanding tradition and I am looking forward to bringing the school back to the national spotlight.”

“The state of Pennsylvania is tremendous in terms of the quality of wrestler that can be recruited which was a great selling point in my looking at Bloomsburg in the first place,” Wirnsberger said. “The Eastern Wrestling League is also a great conference, the third toughest in all of Division I, and I am glad I will be able to remain a part of that great tradition.”

Despite inheriting a young squad, Wirnsberger is looking forward to working with some outstanding student-athletes.

“Bloomsburg has some very good wrestlers returning next year in George Carter, Hunter Guenot, Justin Johnson and Tony Milone to name a few,” Wirnsberger continued. “I am looking for leadership to come from that group of student-athletes.”

Bloomsburg Athletic Director Mary Gardner is looking forward to working with Wirnsberger.

“I am delighted to have Dan on board as our new wrestling coach,” said Gardner. “He brings a lot of enthusiasm with him and will be a positive addition to our coaching staff.”

Wirnsberger is anxious to work with Gardner.

“The support shown by Mary (Gardner) and others in the athletic department has me excited about coming to Bloomsburg,” said Wirnsberger. “I'm also excited to be part of a community that has a lot love for and a strong knowledge of the sport of wrestling.”

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.