Dan Cliburn excelled both athletically and academically during his time on The Hilltop. He won more than 100 career matches on the mats for the IC wrestling team at the 126-pound and 134-pound weight classes. In his sophomore, junior and senior seasons, Cliburn won Midwest Conference titles at his respective weight and advanced to the NCAA Championships. As a junior and a senior, he was named an Academic All-American and he took home the Downer Award as Illinois College’s top male student-athlete in 1996-97.