Takedown Report

Seven Minutes with Mark Manning presented by College Wrestler Recruiting

Seven Minutes is a series of interviews with top wrestling coaches and athletes. Most of the question-and-answer sessions last roughly seven minutes. Hence the name. Mark Manning is the head wrestling coach at the University of Nebraska and was an NCAA Division II champion in 1983 and 1985 for the University of Nebraska-Omaha. You can listen to the entire interview above or read the transcript below. 

If you could take what you know now and have a conversation with yourself at the age of 15, what advice would you give yourself?
Work hard and work smart. You have to be smart on your approach and keep learning from everyone. I’ve taken that motto and it’s most important to keep doing that.

Let’s go back to when you were picking a school. You went to Nebraska then you transferred to Nebraska-Omaha. What was the recruitng process like and why did you ultimately transfer to Nebraska-Omaha?
I grew up watching Iowa Public Television and I loved watching Iowa and Iowa State wrestling matches. I grew up on that. I was really close to the border of Iowa. I grew up like that. Iowa recruited me. So I guess if I was 15 I would have gone to the University of Iowa and I would have wrestled there. It’s not about the cost. It’s what you’re going to do. Money is very important but at the end of the day it’s being happy and going where you think you can reach your goals. I got a big offer at Nebraska and that’s where my parents advised me to go. Rest of the story at

July 14, 2019 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized