Mark Manning celebrates with Jordan Burroughs after Burrough's victory in the 74 kg finals at the 2011 World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey. Larry Slater photo

FILA, the international wrestling federation, has notified USA Wrestling that Mark Manning of Lincoln, Neb., the personal coach for 2011 World champion Jordan Burroughs, has been named the FILA’s Best Coach in men’s freestyle wrestling for 2011.

Manning was Burroughs’ coach at the Univ. of Nebraska, where he won two NCAA Div. I titles (2009, 2011) and was named the Dan Hodge Trophy winner as the nation’s best college wrestler.

Turning his attention to freestyle this spring, Burroughs has been on a tear at 74 kg/163 lbs. He won the U.S. Open in April, the U.S. World Team Trials in June and the Ukrainian Memorial International in July. In his first trip to the Senior World Championships, Burroughs won the World gold medal in September. He added a Pan American Games gold medal in October.

Manning will receive this honor from FILA at the 2012 Pan American Championships set for Colorado Springs, Colo., Feb. 22-26.

“I am very flattered and honored with this award. A lot of the credit goes to Jordan Burroughs and his performance, as well as my entire staff at Nebraska. It is our team effort that makes this award possible. It was an overwhelming surprise to be honored like this,” said Manning.

Manning has been a very active and successful freestyle coach with USA Wrestling for many years. 

“What a wonderful honor for one of the good guys in our sport,” said USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender. “Few coaches are more dedicated and committed to seeing their athletes succeed than Mark Manning. It is refreshing to see our international federation recognize that commitment.”

Manning served as a member of the 2011 U.S. World Team coaching staff, and the team placed third in the World Championships final standings with two medalists, including Burroughs. Manning was a 2009 U.S. World Team Coach which competed at the World Championships in Herning, Denmark, placing seventh as a team with two medalists.

Manning was the Head Coach for the 2001 U.S. Freestyle World Team and trained the team for the event. After the attack of September 11, the World Championships were moved from New York to Bulgaria and Manning could not attend the 2001 World Championships due to college coaching responsibilities.

He was also a coach with the 2000 Pan American Championships team, which claimed the team title. Manning was head coach of the 1994 and 1996 Junior World teams, and also coached the 1992 Cadet World team. He was an assistant coach for the 2008 U.S. Junior World Team. He also coached at two U.S. Olympic Festivals. 

He served on the coaching staff of the 1996 and 2000 U.S. Olympic teams. He served as the assistant coach of the 1997 U.S. Freestyle World Team, which placed sixth in the team standings in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. The team featured one gold and one silver medalist. Manning was also on the coaching staffs of the eight other U.S. World teams.

He served as USA Wrestling's National Developmental Coach during early 1993, managing the organization's age-group national team programs. 

Manning currently works as the head wrestling coach for Div. I wrestling powerhouse Nebraska. 

In his 11 years at the helm, he has coached 34 of Nebraska’s 89 All-Americans. He has led the Huskers to five top-eight finishes at the NCAA Championships, compared to just eight for the 14 NU coaches before him. He is the winningest coach in Husker history. He was the back-to-back Big 12 Coach of the Year in 2008 and 2009 after guiding Nebraska consecutive fourth-place finishes at the NCAA Championships, including nine All-Americans and a national champion during those two seasons. He also guided Nebraska to its first Big 12 wrestling title ever in 2009. 

Prior to taking over the Cornhusker program this year, Manning was the head coach at the Univ. of Northern Iowa, helping revive the program during his three seasons there. The Panthers were 11th at the 2000 NCAA Championships, and he coached individual NCAA champion Tony Davis. Manning also served assistant coaching stints at the Univ. of Oklahoma for four seasons and the Univ. of North Carolina for eight years.

As an athlete, Manning was an Olympic Trials finalist in 1988, and placed in the U.S. Nationals four times. He was a two-time NCAA Div. II national champion and three-time All-American for the Univ. of Nebraska-Omaha. Manning has been inducted into the NCAA Div. II Hall of Fame. He was a three-time South Dakota high school state champion from Vermillion, S.D.