When looking for a new assistant wrestling coach, Wabash College head coach Brian Anderson could not find a better fit than Josh Hardman.
 
Hardman takes over the assistant coaching position vacated by Danny Irwin, who was named head coach at Wheeling Jesuit University after nine years with the Little Giants' program.
 
Hardman comes to Wabash from Morningside College in Iowa. He served three season with the Mustangs as an assistant coach, helping the program post winning numbers each year and earn a second-place finish in the Great Plains Athletic Conference last season.
 
Hardman

has been reunited with Anderson after the two competed as teammates at Manchester College. Hardman graduated from Manchester in 2000 with a Bachelor's Degree of Science. He earned a Master's Degree in sports pedagogy from South Dakota State where he spent two seasons as an assistant coach.
 
"This is an awesome opportunity for the Wabash wrestling program," Anderson said. "Coach Hardman was a college teammate of mine, and I've followed where he's been since we graduated. He's been a lot of different places and has learned from a lot of great coaches. He fits our program perfectly. To be able to reunite with a college teammate and to get to work with one of your best friends is going to be an awesome experience."
 
In addition to his time at Morningside and South Dakota State, Hardman spent four years as head coach at Dakota Wesleyan University where he was also director of the sports management program.
 
Hardman started his duties at Wabash in early August.
 
"First and foremost, knowing the program, where it has come from and where it has already risen to, it is an honor to be a part of this team," Hardman said. "To be able to work with Coach Anderson and help our student-athletes get to that national title that they're shooting for really excites me.
 
"Some of my experience, including being at the Division I national tournament and seeing all of the preparation necessary to get there, taught me that wrestling is wrestling when it gets down to it. You have to get your team to a spot where they feel comfortable and believe in themselves, believe in their training, and believe in what they're doing day to day. That correlates to having success. At the end of the day it's about trying to have a great experience for each wrestler, and that's what I think that preparation will help lead them to overall."
 
The Wabash wrestling team has earned four consecutive top-ten team finishes at the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament, including third-place efforts in 2015 and 2017 along with a fourth-place finish in 2016. The Little Giants have captured 16 All-America top-eight finishes individually since 2011, including six individual national titles.