SOUTHSIDE -Thirty-one years ago Chris Bono stepped onto a mat as a seventh grader and wowed everyone in the stands and his competitors with a fourth place state finish.
Since then, he has continued to equally wow his competitors in college, amateur ranks and now in the coaching ranks.
Bono was in town this week hosting his four day GetBonofide Florida Intensive camp at Bolles Middle School camp for area kids.
To give you an idea of how world wide known Bono is a family from Ohio planned their entire summer vacation around this camp.
Jeremiah Webber and his two sons Loc (9) and Xander Webber (8) traveled all the way from Columbus, Ohio to travel 13 hours and attend the four day camp.
The family watched him on television competing in the US Nationals and all three knew of him.
“My dads brother lives in Jacksonville and we planned our vacation around the wrestling camp once he heard he was coming here,” Jeremiah Webber said.
Webber was fully aware of who Bono was despite living 13 hours away.
“Chris Bono was a great competitive wrestler and has proved to be a great coach, I wanted to bring the kids around a good coach,” Jeremiah Webber stated.
The brothers said they had fun all week and they learned a lot from the legend.
“We had a lot of fun and we learned a lot of techniques from the camp,” Loc and Xander Webber both stated.
Intern Kaylee Whitehead caught up with Bono minutes after the camp concluded to talk about his career at Bolles, Iowa State, being an amateur and his coaching career.
Wrestling icon @ChrisBono talks about his wrestling career after giving a camp at his former school, Bolles @DuvalSports pic.twitter.com/2n3Aqid3CJ
— Kaley Whitehead (@kaleyrwhitehead) June 21, 2018
Bono moved to Jacksonville from Philadelphia as he entered middle school. Upon entering Bolles, Bono immediately became a four sport standout for the Bulldogs excelling in swimming, baseball, football and wrestling.
Yet despite excelling in all four it was evident football and eventually wrestling were his ticket to success.
Whitehead caught up with his former coach Matt Morris, who coached Bono as young as a seventh grader.
“Very proud of him, but when I see him with kids who are about to go to college, that makes me feel really old,” Morris stated.
Morris talked about Bono playing baseball, swimming, football and wrestling back then and perhaps could he have a career in baseball or any other sport.
“He was a pitcher, catcher and shortstop, you give him a game to play and he’s going to compete and not be satisfied until he’s better than anyone else doing it,” Morris stated.
“I think he’s in the sport that’s best suited to his stature and ability to reach the highest level, he could have gone to college and done probably whatever he wanted to,” Morris added.
“He swam in swim meets in middle school, he did everything until high school then it was football and wrestling and those two sports took up 12 months of the year so there wasn’t anytime for anything else.”
As a seventh grader, Bono captivated the audience by dominating his competition so quickly to earn a rare spot on the varsity team.
He finished his first year in the 98 pound class with a remarkable 33-3 record and a fourth place finish at the 1987 Class 3A state meet.
A year later as a sophomore moving up in the 112 class he finished 28-6, which served as plenty of motivation for him entering high school.
A fourth place finish at state and 31-3 record in the 119 class his freshman season in 1989 proved to be a vital point in his high school career. He never lost again after that consolation match.
His last three years he went a remarkable 96-0 winning three consecutive state tiles from 1990-1992 to finish his career 181-12 over six years, with three states titles and two fourth place finishes. Bono also helped Bolles win the 1992 state team title as well.
He shared his thoughts on his favorite moments from playing at Bolles.
Chris Bono talks about some of his favorite memories at Bolles @DuvalSports @kaleyrwhitehead pic.twitter.com/lM6goTzWvX
— Corey Davis (@ByCoreyDavis) June 21, 2018
The mat wasn’t the only place he excelled as Bono was a two time all-state linebacker on the varsity football team under legendary coach Corky Rogers helping the Bulldogs win their second state title overall and first under Rogers in 1990.
Bono juggled swimming, baseball, football and wrestling in middle school and football and wrestling in high school, while earning a Division I-A wrestling scholarship. How did he do that ?
Icon @ChrisBono on how he balanced sports and academics. @DuvalSports @kaleyrwhitehead pic.twitter.com/qecqW2Jbq6
— Corey Davis (@ByCoreyDavis) June 21, 2018
Yet because of his small frame and weight as much as he loved football he knew his ticket to success was always on the mat.
Our very own @kaleyrwhitehead went one on one with legendary icon Chris Bono today @DuvalSports pic.twitter.com/aaBY0wup4y
— Corey Davis (@ByCoreyDavis) June 21, 2018
Recruited by head coach Jim Gibbons, Chris signed with Iowa State a prestigious Big 8 program.
By the time he left Ames, Iowa he finished his Iowa State career as a three-time All-American and four-time NCAA participant, including the 1996 NCAA Championship. Winning the national title, he became the first Floridian to win a national title at any weight class.
@ChrisBono talks about his decision to attend Iowa State! @DuvalSports pic.twitter.com/ydNauo63rf
— Kaley Whitehead (@kaleyrwhitehead) June 21, 2018
A two-time Big 8 conference champ, he finished his career from 1993-1997-with a 130-35 record putting him fifth on the school’s all-time wins.
With his college career over he began wrestling as an amateur. Over a 10 year span, he wrestled in numerous national and international tournaments.
Chris Bono talks about his amateur as well as his international career with @kaleyrwhitehead pic.twitter.com/7KupcaxWYV
— Corey Davis (@ByCoreyDavis) June 22, 2018
From 1999-2007, Bono finished either first or second every year at US Nationals. In 2008 he earned an invite to the Olympic Trials where he finished fourth.
Other notable accomplishments were him competing in the Pan American Games four times (1997, 2000, 2002, 2008) over his career, including three third place finishes.
His wrestling career came to a close at the 2010 US National Championships, where he walked away as a two-time United States National Champion and a World Team Member in 2001, 2002 and 2005.
After placing his cleats on the mat one final time to symbolize his retirement, a new challenge was waiting for him.
@ChrisBono discusses the transition from competing to coaching @DuvalSports pic.twitter.com/bESmODHK5n
— Kaley Whitehead (@kaleyrwhitehead) June 21, 2018
Bono went back to Ames, Iowa as an assistant coach under legendary coach Bobby Douglas, where during an eight-year span, the Cyclones finished in the top 10 of the NCAA Tournament seven-times including, two runner-up finishes.
That led to him taking the University of Tennessee Chattanooga job, where he went onto win three Southern Conference Championship and was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year three times with a 39-17 coaching record.
He left there and took over the South Dakota State program taking the Jack Rabbits to unbelievable heights from five wins the first year to three consecutive 14 win seasons the last three years. Bono posted a 64-40 dual record at SDSU, with 24 NCAA qualifiers and five All-Americans.
In late April, Bono left South Dakota State and was named the new head coach at the University of Wisconsin after 25 year coach Barry Davis retired.
Bono steps into the premiere wrestling conference in the country as the Big Ten Conference has won 12 consecutive national championships.
Thanks to Minnesota (2007), Iowa (2008-2010), Ohio State (2015) and current power Penn State (2011-2014, 2016-2018), the conference has consistently dominated the sport since 1975. In fact only three non Big Ten teams have won team titles since 1975: Iowa State, Arizona State and Oklahoma State.
Another difficult challenge for Bono as a huge underdog, one that he is fully ready to take on and help rebuild Wisconsin into another title contender, just like he has done numerous times in his own wrestling career.
