From 2004-2012, Coach Shannyn, a Bronze-Level certified coach in USA Wrestling’s National Coaches Education Program & a Bronze-Level certified coach in the American Sport Education Program, served at the U.S. Olympic Education Center and guided athletes to an Olympic medal, Jr. World gold medals, Pan American gold medals, and national championship gold medals. He has also coached 5 Outstanding Wrestlers at USA Wrestling national championships.
From 2007-2012, Coach Shannyn lead the U.S. Olympic Education Center freesytyle wrestling team to Austria for international training camps. In 2010, the camp included 52 wrestlers from 7 nations: Sweden, China, Germany, Austria, Norway, Italy, and USA.
In 2009, he brought the first USA college/university female freestyle team to the Japan Institute of Sport Sciences and the National Training Center in Tokyo for a training camp; he also brought the first USA college/university female freestyle national team to the Grand Prix of Spain for competition and training camp.
Coach Shannyn has had tremendous success as a world championship coach. While winning Team USA's first freestyle team title at a world championship in nearly a decade, as coach of the 2008 World University Championship team (Greece), he coached 3 world champions, 1 silver medalist, & 2 bronze medalists.
In 2007, he was the first USA women's freestyle coach to bring a collegiate team to Japan's famed Chukyo Women’s University (home of 20 women’s world champions, 4 Olympic champions, & 2 Olympic Silver medalists) for a training camp and cultural exchange. As coach of the 2006 World University Championships team, he coached 2 bronze medalists. As coach of the 2005 Jr. World Championships team, he coached 1 world champion and 3 silver medalists.
Prior to being named program coordinator of the USA Wrestling women’s freestyle resident athlete program at the USOEC, Coach Shannyn coached at the club level from 2002-2004 in Illinois. While chasing his Olympic dream and wrestling for the Wildcat Wrestling Club, in 1997, he took a position at Northwestern University as a volunteer coach. Coach Shannyn began his coaching career at California University and Northern Illinois University from 1994-1996.
Coach Shannyn grew up in Evanston, Ill and culminated his athletic career by training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. from 1997-1999. Prior to the USOTC, Coach Shannyn earned All America honors by winning 3rd place at the celebrated NCAA D-I tournament for Lock Haven University in 1993. He started wrestling in high school, winning the Illinois state championship in 1989.
As an athlete Coach Shannyn is member of the Eastern Wrestling League, Lock Haven University, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, and Evanston Township High School Halls of Fame. He won freestyle silver medals at USA Wrestling’s prestigious University Nationals and Jr. Nationals and also Greco-Roman and freestyle state titles in Illinois.
Coach Shannyn and his wife, Emily, have two children Jazmyn & Kayla. He enjoys photography, music, and reading. His favorite reading subjects are personal development, sport training theory, psychology, marketing, and business books. He also likes writing in his spare time and has produced many of the articles to promote the growth of women's wrestling and currently manages these websites:
