JOE BENA
JOE BENA
COACH | 2003-2014
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JOE BENA (1939-2008) is a nationally-known and Section 2 legendary wrestling coach who has produced Olympic gold medal winners, NCAA champions as well as New York State and Section 2 Champions.
Bena coached wrestling at Newburgh Free Academy, Niskayuna and Duanesburg. He won Suburban Council championships at Niskayuna from 1975-79, 1990, 1994-97 and 2001-2003. His Duanesburg teams finished unbeaten and won the Western Athletic Conference championship from 2004-2014. Joe amassed 673 wins in his coaching career which were a Section 2 and State record when he retired in 2014 and was ranked in the top 20 in the nation.
Three of his wrestlers competed for the U.S. Olympic team. Jeff Blatnick in 1980 and 84; Andy Seras in 1984 and David Koplovitz in 1988. Blatnick won a gold medal in 1984.
His most recent NCAA champion is Nick Gwiazdowski, who won the NCAA heavyweight championship two times at North Carolina State in 2014 and 2015. Bena coached a total of 17 future collegiate All Americans.
Bena also coached 76 Section 2 champions and 39 New York State Tournament place finishers. He coached 11 wrestlers who won 13 State Championships. He also coached Amy Whitbeck, who while wrestling for Duanesburg became the first female to win a Section 2 championship and qualify for the state meet in 2006.
A 1956 graduate of Ballston Spa, Joe joined the Navy and served for four years. After his discharge he went to Hudson Valley Community College for two years. Joe then went on to graduate with his B.S. from SUNY Oswego as well as getting his Masters from Central Connecticut College. Joe was inducted into the Oswego College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008 where he was a New York State Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Bronze Medalist in 1963 for Oswego. He was a National Wrestling Coaches Association Coach of the year in 1996 and a Scholastic Coaches Magazine Wrestling Gold Coaches Award Recipient in 1989. He was a National High School Athletic Coaches Association Region I Coach of the Year in 2000 and a New York State Coaches Association Honor Recipient in 1998. Joe was inducted into the Section 2 Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2007 and he was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2004.
Joe Bena's resume as a high school wrestling coach is a mile long. The roster of former champions and current coaches who came under his influence branches out like a giant tree. Joe Bena passed away on February 17th, 2018. His coaching accomplishments speak for themselves, but he is remembered as much for how he viewed everyone on an equal plane, whether it was one of his star athletes or a kid in the halls who would never see a wrestling mat in his life.
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