Hardman Named Coach at Manchester

NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. - Manchester University Athletics has named Josh Hardman as its next head wrestling coach.

A Manchester alum, Hardman returns to his alma mater after spending the past five seasons at perennial NCAA Division III power Wabash College located in Crawfordsville, Ind. Hardman spent two years as an assistant coach before being elevated to associate head coach in 2019.

During his time with the Little Giants' program, Hardman helped develop one NCAA Division III National Champion, two National Runner-Ups, 15 All-Americans, 16 NWCA Scholar All-Americans, and the Elite 90 Champion in 2022. The Wabash program has garnered four Top 10 national placements in the past five seasons, including a runner-up finish in 2022. Additionally, Wabash earned three Top 15 NWCA Scholar Team rankings while Hardman was with the program.

Prior to his stint at Wabash, Hardman also served as an assistant coach at NAIA Morningside College in Iowa. Hardman coach six national qualifiers and two All-Americans while with the Mustangs.

Other coaching stops for Hardman include coaching two seasons at NCAA Division I South Dakota State University after serving for four seasons as the head wrestling coach at NAIA Dakota Wesleyan University. He also served as director of the sports management program at Dakota Wesleyan where he taught several different courses in addition to serving on the faculty development committee. Both stops saw Hardman's programs produce a combined 34 national qualifiers, eight All-Americans, and 14 NWCA Scholar All-Americans. 

A 2000 graduate of Manchester, Hardman was a three-sport athlete during his time as a Spartan, competing in football, wrestling, and track & field. He was a three-time NCAA qualifier and a two-time All-American in wrestling and earned all-conference honors in football. He graduated with a bachelor's degree of science as a K-12 physical education major and earned a master's degree in sports pedagogy from South Dakota State in 2004. Josh and his wife Sheri, have two daughters.