Wrestling 6/8/2017 6:33:00 PM Chris Myers

Irwin Selected to Take WJU Wrestling Reigns

WHEELING, W.Va. – With a solid foundation in place, Danny Irwin has been selected to take the Wheeling Jesuit wrestling program's reigns as its new head coach, and continue the nationally-ranked team ascension up the NCAA Division II landscape.

Irwin comes to the fifth-year Cardinals wrestling program after being an assistant wrestling coach at Wabash (Ind.) College for the past nine seasons.

Irwin celebrates with a Wabash wrestler at the 2016 NCAA DIII Championships.

WJU Director of Athletics Kevin Forde is pleased to announce Irwin joining the Cardinals wrestling program.

"The Cardinal Athletics Department is extremely excited to welcome Danny Irwin and his family to Wheeling and to the Wheeling Jesuit University Athletics Department," Forde said. "Danny brings a wealth of experience that will allow him to hit the ground running. His passion combined with his wrestling knowledge will allow our program to continue to make great strides in becoming one of the best wrestling programs in the country. He understands what coaching young men at a mission driven university is all about and will always have the student-athletes best interest at the forefront of his mind. We are eager for him to get to campus to start the next chapter of Cardinal Wrestling."

"I am excited for the opportunity to lead the Wheeling Jesuit wrestling program and would like to thank Kevin Forde along with the rest of the search committee for entrusting the program to me," said Irwin. "I was impressed with everyone I had a chance to meet with on my visits to campus and I believe in the university's mission. I am looking forward to working with our coaching staff so that every one of our student-athletes have a first-class experience on-and-off the mat."

Irwin takes over a still young Cardinal program now WJU Director of Undergraduate Admissions Sean Doyle started four years ago. The Cardinals are set to build upon its first four years of accomplishments, which include a 2017 National Duals runner-up finish, two All-Americans with Dustin Warner taking a program-best fourth-place finish at 133 this season, 10 NCAA national qualifiers and a 38-23 dual match record with a program-best 12-6 mark last year.

"The foundation of the program couldn't be in a better place thanks to all the work Coach Doyle and his staff put in. I believe this puts us in position to track down NCAA Team Trophies, while producing multiple Scholar All-Americans every year," added Irwin.

At Wabash, Irwin helped the Little Giants wrestlers to four NCAA Division III Top 10 finishes, three NCAA Team Trophies, seven Top 30 Academic Team performances and a Best of Brand finalist finish. He also served as the Wabash program's director of recruiting with a high percentage being state qualifier level wrestlers.

Irwin started his wrestling coaching career as Bluffton (Ind.) High School head wrestling coach from 2006-08. He helped elevate that program to a conference championship and team regional qualifier in two seasons.

Irwin with wife, Andrea, and daughter, Addison

The new WJU head wrestling coach graduated with a bachelor's degree in history from Manchester (Ind.) College. He and his wife, Andrea, have a daughter, Addison and are expecting their second child this fall.

-GoCards-

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Players Mentioned

Dustin Warner: 125; 5' 7"; Junior

Players Mentioned

Dustin Warner
: 5' 7"; Junior
: 125