Maney claims 200^th win as high school wrestling coach

Mike Maney accomplished a feat that has unique history behind it. He tallied his 200^th win as Bellefonte Area’s varsity wrestling coach on Jan. 8 at the Mountaineer Classic at Philipsburg-Osceola Area High School. It came against Punxsutawney – a team he nabbed his very first coaching win against at the same P-O gymnasium where he took the milestone win earlier this month.

Results of the tournament can be found, here: Results

“Getting 200 wins was never a goal or something I thought about, to be honest,” Maney said. “Earlier this year, someone asked me how long I have been coaching and about how many wins I had, and I had to go back and count, and then I realized it was within reach to get 200 this season.”

According to the athletic department, Maney became the coach at Bellefonte in the 2008-09 season. He previously coached at P-O, and is also a current history teacher at Bellefonte Area High School.

When asked what his favorite coaching memory is, Maney said it was hard to pick just one, and added he felt “extremely blessed” to be able to coach so many student-athletes and get to know their families along the way.

“When I have a moment to reflect back on the many years of coaching, one of the things I have grown to appreciate more each year is the student-athletes,” he said. “I am grateful for the short time that I have been able to hopefully have an impact on their lives and grateful to the parents who have trusted the coaching staff to allow them to be part of the program.”

Maney’s inspiration for coaching came due to his past coaches who helped instill life lessons in the student-athletes, which he also hopes to do. And while wins and losses at one time were something more important to Maney, he said he now puts less focus on that and more into helping his wrestlers to be great people, leaders, employees, and loving husbands and fathers off the mat, while still finding a way to instill passion in them for the sport.

“Now, maybe since I am getting older, I love to hear about how wrestling or the lessons we instilled in them, like showing up on time, giving your best effort, being grateful for all the opportunities you have and how they used them in their life to be successful in college, military, their profession and with their families,” he said seriously, but with a laugh when he called himself “older.”

Maney was also inducted to the Lock Haven University Wrestling Hall of Fame’s Class of 2021. The banquet was held in December. According to LHU athletics, Maney is 2004 graduate who finished his career with 119 wins. He was a two-time Eastern Wrestling League champion, and two-time NCAA All-American in 2002 and 2003. In 2016, Maney was also named to the EWL’s Hall of Fame.

*By Brit Milazzo, public relations director, BASD