Head wrestling coach Kevin Lake will enter his seventh year at the helm of the Manchester University wrestling program in 2021-22.
Coach Lake's program produced 5 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Scholar All-Americans in 2021 as Joel Arney, Tyler Leonhard, Zach Morgan, Matt Neff, and Josh Stephenson all earned the recognition. Leonhard, Morgan, Neff, and Stephenson were all first-time NWCA Scholar All-Americans, while Joel Arney became a three-time NWCA Scholar All-American.
During the 2019-20 campaign, Manchester earned dual match victories against Elmhurst, Wilmington (Ohio), Simpson, Kentucky Wesleyan and Trine. Additionally, senior 141-pounder JaVon Phillips posted a 4-2 mark at the 2020 NCAA Division III Central Region Championships, good enough for a fifth place finish. Sophomore 165-pounder Jeremiah Ford also placed at the Central Region Championships, earning an eighth-place finish. Coach Lake also had a pair of student-athletes, JaVon Phillips and Joel Arney, garner National Wrestling Coaches Association Scholar All-America honors for the second consecutive year. Additionally, JaVon Phillips also ended his career with 47 pins, the second-most in program history.
During the 2018-19 season, junior Jordan Napier qualified for the NCAA Division III National Championships after a runner-up finish at the NCAA Division III Central Region Championships. Napier posted a record of 37-9, the fifth-most in a single season in MU history, to lead the Spartans. Both JaVon Phillips and Joel Arney, garnered National Wrestling Coaches Association Scholar All-America honors.
During the 2016-17 academic year, Manchester University hosted the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Championships at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne. Additionally, MU's Chase Wilson reached the 30+ win plateau, and, under Lake's guidance, became the first Spartan since 2012 to qualify for the NCAA Division III National Championships. Wilson earned Central Region Champion and Most Outstanding performer honors and finished his career with more than 100 wins.
A 1998 graduate of Manchester, Lake rejoined the Spartan program after serving for four years as Program Director of Beat the Streets Los Angeles (BTSLA), a nonprofit wrestling-based youth development organization. During his time in Los Angeles, Lake served on the committee for USA Wrestling’s Beat the Streets National efforts as well as on the local organizing committee for the United World Wrestling Freestyle World Cups in 2014 and 2015.
In addition to his coaching duties at Manchester, Coach Lake has served key roles on the Manchester scheduling, and Hall of Fame committees.
Coach Lake also served as as the associate head coach at NCAA Division I Fresno State University. With the Bulldogs, Lake coached 4 NCAA Division I Championships qualifiers including 2005 Western Regional Champion Greg Gifford. Through Lake’s efforts, the Bulldogs were credited with the 15th best-recruiting class in the nation in 2005 named by Intermat Wrestling.
Additional coaching stops for Lake include assistant positions at South Dakota State University and Princeton University. While at Princeton, Lake coached two-time All-American and NCAA Division I finalist Greg Parker. Coach Lake also served as the head wrestling coach at MacMurray College in Illinois.
A wrestler during his four years at Manchester, Lake was a part of a squad that won four Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships and placed in the NCAA Division III Top 10 three times, including the 1997-98 season where the team finished a school-best sixth at the NCAA Division III Championships.
Lake earned a bachelor of science degree in health, physical education, and exercise science from Manchester in 1998 and a master of arts degree in sport administration from Central Michigan University in 2004. He and his wife Christine, have three children, Jayla, Amara and Oakley.
* Last Updated - August 3, 2021
