Wayne Mammen

A Peoria native, Wayne wrestled and played football at Peoria Richwoods High School and at Monmouth College. He earned his degree in education, later obtaining a Masters Degree from the University of Illinois. Wayne began his career teaching and coaching for three years at Mt. Vernon, Iowa, followed by a year at Lewis Central in Council Buffs, Iowa. He then moved on to Indianola, Iowa where he would coach three more years. While coaching in Iowa, Wayne had seven state qualifiers, four state placers and one finalist. In 1970, Wayne returned to Illinois and took over the head coaching responsiblities at Urbana High School. After 22 years at the helm, his teams won 310 dual meets, including two undefeated seasons. During Mammen's tenure, Urbana High School won five Conference, six District, and eight Regional titles. He coached twenty-nine individual state qualifiers and seven medalists, including his son Kirk, who was a two time IHSA State Champion. Wayne was proud to watch him go on to become a four time All-American while at Oklahoma State University. Mark, his other son, was a two time state qualifier and a four year standout wrestler at Illinois State University. Wayne's sons recently surprised him on Father's Day with an original wrestling mural they painted in the Urbana wrestling room. Wayne's wrestling teams compiled the most wins in Urbana High School history, and he has been inducted into Urbana's Hall of Fame for coaching. He also was honored by having the wrestling room named after him. He became a member of the IWCOA Hall of Fame in 1991. In 2015, Wayne was a Grand Marshal at the Individual State Wrestling Tournament. Wayne served the IWCOA as a Regional representative for five years, was active at the University of Illinois summer wrestling camps, Team Illinois training camps, worked at the head table for U of I duals, and coached at the Prairie State Games. He was an assistant coach on the Champ Builder European Cultural Exchange tour in 1987, and hosted exchange teams from Germany and Japan at Urbana.

Awards:

Year
2016
Award
Lifetime Service to Wrestling
Chapter/Region
Illinois

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