Takedown Report

Donnie Stephens to Head Newberry Women’s Wrestling

NEWBERRY, S.C. — No stranger to the women’s wrestling world, the Newberry College athletics department has announced the hiring of Donnie Stephens to lead the program as it opens it’s inaugural season in 2024. 

“I’m super excited and grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the Newberry family,” said Stephens. “Building a program from the ground up is an exciting challenge and I am confident that we can create something special here in South Carolina.  Newberry has a strong athletic and educational tradition and I look forward to joining the Pack.”

Stephens comes to Newberry after spending the past 10 years at the University of the Cumberlands where he served as the head coach for the women’s wrestling program. During his time with the Patriots he coached three NAIA national champions, multiple NAIA and WCWA All-Americans as well as the sixth place team at the NAIA National Championship. His teams have had a consistent presence in the top-10 of the national polls. Academically, his teams have been three time NWCA NAIA Academic Team Champions while posting the second most Academic All-Americans among NAIA schools in 2023.

“We are thrilled to have Coach Stephens serving as the inaugural head coach of our women’s wrestling program,” said athletic director Sean Johnson. “His experience and success gives instant credibility to what we are starting here at Newberry College.”

Concurrently with his time at Cumberlands, Stephens served as a coach with the Titan Mercury Wrestling Club where he provided coaching and training assistance to elite club members, maintaining a partnership with the Olympic Training Center, the Army World Class Athlete Program (WCAP) and elite level women’s wrestlers. Before making the move to Kentucky, Stephens was the coach and co-owner of Adrenaline Fitness and Combat Sports in Colorado where he supervised the gym’s operation while teaching wrestling and mixed martial arts classes.

“Coach Stephens brings in a pedigree of success that was exactly what we were looking for in our first women’s wrestling coach,” said senior associate athletic director Wayne Alexander. “His connections throughout the women’s wrestling world will be a true asset to building a program here at Newberry College and will put the Wolves on the path to success early in his tenure.”

Stephens got his start in the coaching world at West Covina High School … rest of story at … Newberrywolves.com/news/donnie-stephens-to-head-newberry-womens-wrestling

July 2, 2023 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Bono to be inducted into National Wrestling Hall of Fame – Florida

MADISON, Wis. — The National Wrestling Hall of Fame – Florida Chapter has announced that Wisconsin wrestling head coach Chris Bono will be inducted with the Class of 2023.

Hailing from Jacksonville, Fla., Bono will be inducted for Lifetime Service along with Sean Ballard, Don Knauf, Samuel T. Pruitt, Saul F. Tejada and Donald Weekley. The Honors Weekend event will be held in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., on August 25-26 at the Wyndham Lake Buena Vista Resort.

Bono will begin his sixth season coaching the Badgers this fall and has compiled a 41-28 record at Wisconsin in five seasons at the helm in the nation’s toughest wrestling conference — the Big Ten. Bono is 144-86 overall record in 14 seasons as a head coach after stints at Chattanooga and South Dakota State.

Bono has coached six Badgers to 11 All-America honors. Most recently, sophomore Dean Hamiti earned his second national honor at 165 pounds in consecutive seasons and Trent Hillger earned his fourth All-America honor, the only UW heavyweight in school history to do so.

Both Hamiti (165) and Austin Gomez (149) have also earned the Badgers’ Big Ten titles during the past two seasons, earning back-to-back league honors under Bono’s tenure and the first titles since 2016. „In total, Bono and the Badgers have qualified 32 wrestlers for the NCAA Championships in past five seasons and Wisconsin set a new record for highest single dual attendance (vs. Iowa, Jan. 22, 2023 – 5,256) during the past season at the UW Field House.

Bono was an NCAA champion, three-time NCAA All-American and a two-time Big 12 champion for Iowa State with a career college record of 128-34. He placed fifth at the NCAA championships as a sophomore in 1995 before winning the 150-pound crown in 1996 and placing second in 1997. Bono was a member of U.S. freestyle World championships teams in 2001, 2002 and 2005 and was … rest of story at … UWbadgers.com/news/bono-to-be-inducted-into-national-wrestling-hall-of-fame-florida

July 2, 2023 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment