WHEELING — For just the second time in five years, Wheeling Jesuit University has hired a new head wrestling coach.

With the architect of the program — Sean Doyle — taking a position as the WJU Director of Undergraduate Admissions, the Cardinals have hired Indiana native Danny Irwin as the second head coach in the Cardinal Culture history.

“I’m really excited to build upon what Sean has built as the foundation for the program,” Irwin said. “He put in a lot of work to get the program to where it is in a short period of time. I’m anxious to see the blank canvas that is yet to be painted, but there are so many strong things already in place that will allow me and my staff to build on.

“I am excited for the opportunity to lead the Wheeling Jesuit wrestling program and would like to thank Athletic Director Kevin Forde along with the rest of the search committee for entrusting the program to me,” Irwin added. “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 youthful Cardinal program. The Cardinals are set to build upon their first four years of accomplishments, which include a 2017 National Duals runnerup 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 (Academic) All-Americans every year,” Irwin noted. “I’m sure it was tough for Sean to walk away because I think, on paper, this is probably the best team they’ve had coming into a season.”

He mentioned names like Tyler Warner (Claymont), Dylan Taylor (Wheeling Park) and Sawyer Leppla (Cambridge) who are all coming off medical redshirts, along with Terrance Fanning, who just missed being an All-American last year.

“You’ve got to have 5-6 guys reach the podium at the nationals in order to bring back a team trophy,” he said.

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.

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.