University of Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez wasted little time in finding a successor to head wrestling coach Barry Davis, who announced earlier this month that he would retire after 25-year tenure leading the storied program.
Alvarez announced Saturday that Chris Bono, late of South Dakota State University, would become the 16th head wrestling coach in Badgers history. Bono earned Big 12 coach of the year honors in his sixth season as head coach in Brookings, leading the Jackrabbits to a 12th-place finish at the NCAA tournament, the highest finish of any Big 12 team.
Two-time All-American Seth Gross, at 133 pounds, won South Dakota State's first national title, while the team placed ahead of reigning Big 12 champion Oklahoma State in Cleveland.
Bono has coached five All-Americans at South Dakota State, including three from last season. He produced two the year before, marking the first All-Americans for South Dakota State at the Division I level. Bono had at least one NCAA Qualifier since taking the reins of the program and had a school-record seven in the most recent tournament.
Bono leaves SDSU with a 64-41 overall record, a total of 24 NCAA qualifiers, five All-Americans and one national champion.
Like many current NCAA Division I head wrestling coaches, Bono had an excellent career as a collegiate wrestler himself. He was a three-time All-American at Iowa State, ranks fifth in Cyclone history with 130 career wins, and was the 150-pound NCAA champion as a junior.
He started his coaching career as an Iowa State assistant for nine years, and was named the National Wrestling Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year in 2002. His first head coaching gig was at Chattanooga, where he led the Mocs to three Southern Conference titles.
"The more I researched him, the more I liked him," Alvarez said of Bono. "The job that he's done at South Dakota State is nothing short of spectacular. The more you look into what he's accomplished, and then you sit down and visit with him, he's just got so much energy and believes in the things that we believe in."
Alvarez said he thinks the Wisconsin wrestling program is "a sleeping giant," and that Bono is the man to take the program to the next level.
