You might be able to see over Chris Bono, but you can’t miss him.
Wisconsin’s new head wrestling coach stands just 5 feet 3 inches tall but carries enough energy to fill up an entire room. The first-year head coach brought that daily intensity to his last coaching job at South Dakota State — where he took the Jackrabbits from bottom-dwellers to contenders at nationals — and he’s already started on a quest to do the same in Madison.
Bono made his first appearance at the athletic department’s weekly press conference on Monday, and he instantly turned the muted atmosphere into an eight minute advertisement for Wisconsin wrestling, with himself as the coach-turned-pitchman.
“It’s been seven months in the making, rebranding this program and getting these guys ready, and we’re excited,” Bono said. “Come on out and watch us. I think once you guys see it, you guys are going to be hooked as wrestling fans.”
Even before the first match of his Wisconsin career, Bono showed that he can back up those words with action. The coach pushed the program to add 96 mat-side seats in the Fieldhouse and ramped up season ticket promotion efforts. He added a match with Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on the Sunday after the state wrestling tournament to attract parents and wrestlers already in Madison.
Off campus, Bono held a trio of three-day wrestling camps in Madison over the summer and travelled the state to promote the program and get feedback. His efforts have been rewarded already, with the match-side seats selling out in less than 24 hours.
“Selling those mat-sides out, it didn’t surprise me because everywhere I’ve been around the state we’ve been promoting the program… the support for wrestling in the state of Wisconsin is unbelievable,” Bono said. “I didn’t realize how strong it was until I got here and I got to meet people.”
Bono has done everything asked of him and more in the seven months since his hiring, and the results off the mat have been promising. Now comes the harder part, as Bono looks to transform expectations and elevate the program.
Wisconsin’s wrestling program has been historically strong and competitive — Assistant Athletic Director Barry Tiedt called the program a “sleeping giant” to the Wisconsin State-Journal — but the Badgers have also been overshadowed by their neighbors to the south and west. Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota have w0n 62 Big Ten titles, while Wisconsin has never captured a conference crown.
The first-year coach wasn’t shy about his goals in Monday’s press conference.
“People want to see our program be national champions,” Bono said.
To compete with the best in the country, Wisconsin will need to first compete with the best in its conference, and that looks to be a tall task in 2018. The Badgers enter the season ranked 19th in the NWCA poll, but just 11th in the conference. Four of the top five teams in the poll compete in the Big Ten.
Bono understands how competitive the conference is and has changed things in the training room as well, implementing an intense and conditioning-heavy regimen like the one that took South Dakota State from one national qualifier in the three years before his arrival to seven in his final season alone.
“I could tell you it’s been tough at the beginning, but right now our guys in that wrestle room are 100 percent bought in,” Bono said. “After Thursday night when these guys see how great their conditioning is and how well they perform, they will definitely believe in what we’re doing.”
If Wisconsin’s going to exceed expectations this year, it’ll likely be on the back of Evan Wick. The sophomore was an all-american last year, one of just two Badgers ever to receive that honor at the 165-pound weight class in their freshman year. Wick enters the season ranked second in the country, and his work in the offseason has impressed the coaching staff.
“Our leader is Evan Wick. He’s ranked number two in the country, but Evan is more than a leader, Evan is an unbelievable person,” Bono said. “He’s the perfect person, if I can say that.”
Wisconsin kicks off its season Thursday at 7 p.m. against Buffalo, before traveling to Iowa State for the Cyclone Open on Saturday.
Bono has changed the program’s expectations. Now all that remains is to achieve them.
