South Dakota State’s Chris Bono was honored Wednesday as the Big 12 Wrestling Coach of the Year after leading the Jackrabbits to their most successful season at the Division I level.
During the recently completed 2016-17 season, the Jackrabbits compiled a 14-5 dual record, including an 8-1 mark against Big 12 Conference foes. SDSU finished third at the Big 12 Conference Wrestling Championship in early March and placed second among conference schools — and 16th overall — at the 2017 NCAA Championships with 133-pound national runner-up Seth Gross and 149-pounder Alex Kocer becoming the program’s first All-Americans in the Division I era.
SDSU was nationally ranked for all but the first week of the season, attaining its highest ranking of 16th in the USA Today/NWCA poll in mid-February.
In five seasons at SDSU, Bono has compiled a 50-39 dual record, including a 14-3 mark in Big 12 competition. The Jackrabbits have sent 17 wrestlers to the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships since Bono took over the program at the start of the 2012-13 campaign, including five wrestlers each of the past two seasons.
