Don Benning's wrestling team won the NAIA National Championship in 1970 after finishing as runner up the previous two seasons.
UNO Mourns Passing of Legendary Benning
Jul 15, 2017 | General
OMAHA, Neb. - UNO Athletics Hall of Famer Don Benning passed away on Friday at age 81. Benning played football and wrestled for Omaha University and went on to be a pioneering college coach and high school athletic director.
Benning was hired as the head wrestling coach at Omaha University in 1963. He became the first African-American head coach in a predominantly white university in the United States and was the first full-time black faculty member at Omaha University. Benning's 1970 team was 14-0 and won the NAIA national championship after finishing second in the 1968 and 1969 NAIA national meets. The Mavericks were third in Benning's final season in 1971.
Benning had three black All-Americans on the 1970 team - brothers Roy and Mel Washington, and Landy Waller. His wrestling team brought the first ever collegiate national championship to the state of Nebraska. He was selected by both the Omaha World Herald and the Lincoln Journal Star as state college coach of the year. Benning was also NAIA Wrestling Coach of the Year, a member of the Nebraska Scholastic Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame, and a member of the 1969 United States Olympic Wrestling Committee.
After eight years and four top-three finishes at the national tournament, Benning left coaching in 1971.
Read more on Don Benning's life in the Omaha World-Herald.
Benning was hired as the head wrestling coach at Omaha University in 1963. He became the first African-American head coach in a predominantly white university in the United States and was the first full-time black faculty member at Omaha University. Benning's 1970 team was 14-0 and won the NAIA national championship after finishing second in the 1968 and 1969 NAIA national meets. The Mavericks were third in Benning's final season in 1971.
Benning had three black All-Americans on the 1970 team - brothers Roy and Mel Washington, and Landy Waller. His wrestling team brought the first ever collegiate national championship to the state of Nebraska. He was selected by both the Omaha World Herald and the Lincoln Journal Star as state college coach of the year. Benning was also NAIA Wrestling Coach of the Year, a member of the Nebraska Scholastic Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame, and a member of the 1969 United States Olympic Wrestling Committee.
After eight years and four top-three finishes at the national tournament, Benning left coaching in 1971.
Read more on Don Benning's life in the Omaha World-Herald.
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