Manuel Leija will begin serving as an assistant coach for Davenport University wrestling in the 2024-25 season as a former student-athlete for the Panthers.
Leija became the first men's wrestling NCAA Division II All-American after placing eighth (2-3 overall) at 125 in the NCAA Division II Championships. He was ranked No. 12-ranked in the 125 weight class by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Coaches Poll before the start of 2023-24 and tallied the following accolades throughout his final season: placed third in the NCAA Super Region 3 with a 3-1 record to claim top-15 rankings by Intermat (No. 11) and Open Mat (No. 13) and tallied a 2-1 record in the GLVC Dual Championships to mark two of the Panthers' five total wins.
In 2022-23, he competed as a top performer for the Panthers throughout the season, finishing fourth overall at the NCAA Super Region at 133 and fell just shy of All-American status as a competitor in the NCAA Division II Championships. Leija placed second in the Millikin Open on Nov. 12 in a tech fall over Cole Blalock of Huntingdon (21-6); a win by fall against DJ Millett of Millikin at 6:31;Â and fell by a 5-4 decision against Brock Beck of Central College Iowa. He also finished third in the Albion Open on Nov. 20 with 14.5 team points, took third in the Jim Koch Wisconsin Open on Dec. 3 with 17.5 team points, tallied the only points for the Panthers against No. 4 Indianapolis in the team's first GLVC dual of the season (51-3 loss), and won his matchup in the Maryville Dual on Nov. 14 over Austin Wadlow in a 3-2 decision.
In his first season with DU, he finished with a record of 4-8 in his first season with the team while advancing to the third-place match in his weight class (125) at the NCAA Regional on Feb. 27. Leija won twice over Zachary Collins of Findlay 3-0 and Jake Arnold of Notre Dame College (Fall 1:29) with a 4-2 sudden victory over Cael Woods of Ashland for his first career win at DU on Jan. 30.
Leija prepped at Lansing Eastern High School for coach Arnold Pulliam, becoming a four-time Varsity letter winner in wrestling from 2017-2020; a three-time MHSAA State Qualifier in Division 1/Division 2; and a three-time MHSAA All-State in D1/D2. In 2018, he placed 8th overall in the 2018 MHSAA State Championships at 112 pounds; placed third in the 2019 MHSAA State Championships at 112 pounds; placed 6th in the 2020 MHSAA State Championships at 119 pounds in D1. Leija was a three-time MHSAA Regional Champion and a three-time All-Conference pick with an overall record of 26-30.
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