Mike Benefiel

Lombard (Montini)/Elmhurst

Wrestler

Mike Benefiel not only finished his career at Montini Catholic High School as one of the first 10 four-time IHSA

champions but he and St. Rita’s Albert White both were the first to win 200 matches during their careers and his

streak of 123 consecutive victories that he had when he ended his career in 2007 ranked third at the time and still

is the fourth-longest in IHSA history.

He took first place at 119 in Class A in 2004 and captured an A title at 140 in 2005. He won his first Class AA

championship at 152 in 2006 and he capped his career with an AA title at 171 in 2007 when the top-ranked 171-

pounder nationally by W.I.N. captured an 8-2 decision to hand Richmond-Burton’s Jordan Blanton the only

setback of his career.

Mike was also a member of two IHSA Dual Team champions and one second-place finisher. The Broncos, who

were coached by Mike Bukovsky, a 2020 IWCOA Lifetime Service Recipient, beat Roxana to claim first place

in Class A in 2004 and defeated Alleman Catholic for first in Class A in in 2005 before falling to Carl Sandburg

to finish second in Class AA in 2007.

His 57 victories in 2006-2007 beat the old record of 53 that was set in 1988-1989 by his longtime coach at

Overtime School of Wrestling, Sean Bormet, a 2022 IWCOA Lifetime Service Recipient, and it still ranks as the

second-highest total for wins in a season.

Other highlights for Mike with the Broncos was being the first-ever four-time champion at the Cheesehead in

Wisconsin and he won two titles at the Ironman in Ohio. Following his senior season, he received the Dave

Schultz High School Excellence Award for high school seniors who demonstrate excellence in wrestling,

scholastic achievement, character, citizenship and community service. In the offseason, he was a Fargo Junior

Freestyle National Champion in 2007 and a Cadet Freestyle National Champion in 2004 and also was a four-time

All-American. He was also a member of the Illinois National Championship Junior Dual Team in 2006.

In college, Mike redshirted as a true freshman at Northwestern University, went on to compete for two years at

Oklahoma State University and then finished at Elmhurst College. He was a two-time NCAA Division I qualifier

and a two-time Big 12 Conference runner-up who had a 51-14 record at Oklahoma State for coach John Smith.

And Mike was an NCAA Division III Champion at 197 in 2013 at Elmhurst College, where he competed for 2022

IWCOA Lifetime Service Recipient Steve Marianetti, and the Bluejays claimed second place, which was their

best NCAA finish, and that team was honored by being inducted into Elmhurst’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2023.

He also was an ASICS University Freestyle National Champion at 79 Kg in 2009.

Mike also served as an assistant coach at Montini Catholic from 2014-2020 where he was on a staff led by coach

Israel Martinez, a 2020 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee, that won IHSA Dual Team titles in Class 2A in 2015 and

in Class 3A in 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2020 and took second place in 3A in 2017. He also coached multiple UFC

fighters, including Jon Jones and Holly Holm. He has held jobs in the security, corrections and law enforcement

fields. And he likes spending time with his family, which includes his five-month old daughter, Bailey.