Welcome to the show: Bono ready for challenge
March 24, 2018 | Wrestling, Andy Baggot
New wrestling coach excited by Badgers’ potential
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BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — It was a period of soul-searching that ultimately changed the course of Chris Bono's life.
It was the spring of 2010 and he thought he'd reached the end of his career in wrestling.
Bono was a legendary prep standout in Florida who was good enough to win an NCAA title at Iowa State in 1996. But his final collegiate match was a loss.
Bono was a world-class middle-weight, winning his share of prestigious national and international titles, but he fell just short of making U.S. Olympic Teams in 2000, '04 and '08.
Bono had three different coaching stints as an assistant and head coach — including two at his alma mater — that left him wanting more for himself and his family of four.
As such, Bono decided to step away from wrestling, a sport he'd known and loved since he was 5.
So how did Bono go from selling medical supplies in South Carolina to becoming the newest wrestling coach at Wisconsin?
First there was the matter of reconciling the past.
"All the coaching gigs, the coming up short competing really still hurt me," Bono said. "I was second in a lot of things and just thought it was time to get out and try to do good for my family."
Second there was the matter of responding to the voice in his heart.
"Once I got out for a couple months," Bono said, "I realized my passion is for coaching."
That passion — not to mention a swagger and a sense of showmanship — helps explain why UW Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez announced Saturday that Bono had been chosen as the 16th head coach of the Badgers.
"The more I researched him, the more I liked him. 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. ... He was just very, very impressive."
— Barry Alvarez
Bono, 44, spent the last six seasons building South Dakota State into a Division I attraction.
The Jackrabbits have gone from being a potential budget-cutting victim shortly before Bono's arrival to being a top-15 national power in the Big 12 Conference, one that just crowned its first NCAA individual champion in 133-pounder Seth Gross and earned Bono 2017 Big 12 Coach of the Year honors.
"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.
"He's going to sell the program. I feel strongly that he has some really creative ideas to promote his wrestling program, which he's done. That's the thing: He's done it. He's not just talking or blowing smoke or been with a program that's done it. He's done it.
"He was just very, very impressive."
Bono takes over for Barry Davis, who resigned earlier this month after a 25-year coaching stint at Wisconsin.
Alvarez said Bono sees the UW wrestling program in the same manner as Alvarez saw the football program when he embarked on a Hall of Fame career in 1990.
"A sleeping giant," Alvarez said.
After touring the facilities at Kellner Hall — including the adjacent Field House where wrestling matches are staged — and meeting with school officials Thursday, Bono sat down amid the whirlwind and explained why he wanted to coach the Badgers.
Start with the fact a Big Ten Conference school has won every NCAA team title since 2007, a 12-season run that has seen four schools — Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio State and Penn State — hoist the championship trophy.
"It's in the best wrestling conference in the country," Bono said.
Another factor was that Bono believes UW is capable of cracking that upper echelon.
"It's one of the few programs in the country that has a chance to win a national title," Bono said.
The Badgers have finished as high as fourth in the NCAA meet three times in program history — 1976, '78 and 2010 — and produced 13 individuals that have won a combined 18 national championships.
Bono really believes UW can win a national title?
"One hundred percent," he said.
"One hundred percent," he repeated.
"There's no doubt about it," he added.
Bono said Wisconsin has the right mix of academic and athletic cache.
"These guys have a vision for the program," he said of Alvarez and his staff. "With all the resources here, the state of Wisconsin wrestling, the surrounding states, there's no reason why we can't attract the top talent in the country to come to this institution.
"Academically it's one of the finest in the country. It has everything you need to be successful in athletics as well as in life after you leave here."
Bono, who was a three-time prep state champion growing up in Jacksonville, Fla., once considered becoming a UW student-athlete. He took a recruiting trip to Madison in 1992 when Andy Rein was the coach and remembers attending a football game at Camp Randall Stadium.
"I loved it here," Bono said with a laugh. "But (Rein) made me stand out in the sleet and rain in a pair of shorts and a windbreaker when I'm from Florida. I was cold."
Bono struggled his first season at Iowa State, but finished fifth, first and second in the NCAA tournament the next three seasons, respectively.
Bono stayed in Ames to work as an assistant coach for the Cyclones. He helped recruit Cael Sanderson, who went on to become a four-time NCAA titlist and Olympic gold medalist. Sanderson is now the coach at Penn State, which has won seven of the last eight NCAA team titles.
After a three-season stint as head coach at Tennessee-Chattanooga, Bono returned to his alma mater for one year before deciding to leave wrestling behind.
"Things didn't work out there for whatever reason," he said of the short stay at Iowa State. "When I got out I thought I was done with wrestling."
Bono moved his family of four — wife Niki and daughters Josie and Ellie — to Lexington, S.C., to work for Stryker selling medical supplies.
Looking back, Bono said the experience was invaluable.
"It taught me how to be a CEO," he said. "I was running basically about a $3.5 million territory in medical sales, so I was managing $3.5 million of business in those two years.
"It really helped me when I got the job at SDSU to understand the CEO mentality of running a program besides the coaching parts of it.
"It's the best thing to happen to me in my professional career."
Bono was determined to make of go of it in the private sector.
"I had all intentions of staying out," he said. "I didn't go to the national tournament that year because I wanted to give this thing a full go."
The lure of coaching returned, though.
"I went to the national tournament the next year and said, 'This is where I need to be,'" Bono said
That trip is when Bono reached out to South Dakota State athletic director Justin Sell. Bono said he owes his career to Sell "for taking a chance on a guy who was out of wrestling to give me a job."
Bono prospered in Brookings. South Dakota State saw significant upgrades in academics, athletic performance and attendance.
"Academics, that's why we're here in college athletics, getting these guys a degree that will be meaningful for the next 50 years," Bono said. "We're here to get the best possible education we can and wrestle after the fact."
Bono and his support staff were known for utilizing social media and promotions to create an energized environment at home matches. South Dakota State averaged 1,900 fans for its dual meets this season and wrestling, once thought to be on the budgetary chopping block, has become a revenue sport for the school.
One of the things Bono noted about Wisconsin wrestling is that it has 13,000 followers on Twitter.
"That's 13,000 people who should be getting messages about our program daily," he said. "If we can grow that and if we can put some people in the seats because of that, we can market the 'W' on our chest.
"It's going to be a great deal. We're going to be putting people in the stands. It's going to be a rowdy environment in there, something I really look forward to."
Bono said his 32-year career as a wrestler — a mix of triumph with a lot of heartache — defines his approach to coaching at UW.
"It made me who I am because nothing came easily for me," he said. "Winning when I competed didn't come easy. In my professional life, I've had to take the hard road.
"I'm going to grind away until we get something done. If we have to go raise money, I'm going to raise money. If we have to go recruit all over the world, we're going to recruit until we get the job done."
Bono clearly hit it off with Alvarez, who said he got strong reports on Bono from multiple Iowa State connections, including former football assistant Dan McCarney and current UW associate athletic director Bruce Van De Velde.
"He gets me fired up just talking to him," Bono said of Alvarez. "You can see when he walks around here the respect that everybody has.
"I'm grateful for the opportunity. I can't wait to sit down and talk and get some words of wisdom.
"I can't wait to make him proud."
