By Chris Downey

For The Newberry Observer

Manck
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_Manck.jpgManck

NEWBERRY — Josh Manck, assistant director for athletic communications at Newberry College, has been named the National Wrestling Media Association’s Small College SID of the Year recipient.

The announcement was made at the April 8 meeting of the National Wrestling Media Association.

Manck described receiving the award as “awesome,” a noted staple among those who know the long-time Newberry College athletic communications director.

Manck has been at the helm of the Newberry College athletic communications department since June 2006, managing and promoting Newberry’s 19 intercollegiate sports. He has grown into a key member of wrestling information at the Division II level, as he spearheads the operation of D2Wrestle.com along with his other duties at Newberry College.

Manck also provides ranking coordination with the Division II Wrestling Coaches Association, to assist with ranking the top teams and individuals in NCAA Division II.

“Josh is very deserving of this award from the NWMA,” said Matthew Finley, Newberry College athletic director. “He has been instrumental in promoting the successes of Newberry’s wrestling program and Division II wrestling as a whole. I am happy his hard work is being recognized and I know he will continue to improve and be innovative for the promotion of student-athletes in the sport of wrestling.”

The Gilmer, Texas, native served as the sports information operations coordinator for the 2013 NCAA Division II Championships held in Birmingham, Ala. Throughout his time at Newberry, he has been served in various roles within CoSIDA, including the D2SIDA Second Vice President as well as serving on the CoSIDA Convention Programming committee.

“The passion and creativity in which Josh performs on a daily basis is unmatched,” Newberry College interim head wrestling coach R.C. LaHaye said. “He is consistently finding new and creative ways to promote our program and our student-athletes. His efforts not only compliment Newberry Wrestling but NCAA Division II wrestling as a whole. We are extremely grateful to the hard work of Josh and I look forward to the creative avenues he continues to implement on a daily basis.”

He is also a member of the National Wrestling Media Association. Outside of wrestling, he is a member of the ECAC-SIDA, Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).

Prior to his time at Newberry, Manck was a sports reporter for the Times-Review in Cleburne, Texas. He graduated from Austin College with a bachelor of arts degree in communication arts, focusing on media studies in 2005. He earned his masters in sport management from California University of Pennsylvania in August 2012, with a track in intercollegiate athletics administration.

Chris Downey is the Campbell University athletic communications assistant and former Newberry College athletic communications assistant.