Jerry Cheynet, a native of Wichita, Kansas, has 42 years of tenure with the sport of wrestling.

He served as the head wrestling coach for 22 years at Virginia Tech University and had a career record of 188-167-6, the most wins by any coach in program history. He was named Colonial Athletic Associate Coach of the Year in 1993 after the Hokies captured the CAA championship. Cheynet’s wrestling teams at Virginia Tech finished second in the NCAA East Regional twice and were in the top five seven times. He also had eight individual regional champions, five CAA champions, and 18 wrestlers who wrestled in the NCAA Tournament, including his first All-American in 1993 in heavyweight Josh Feldman, who placed seventh.

Before coming to Virginia Tech, Cheynet established the wrestling program at Lake Superior State College in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. He had a 42-17-2 record in five years, including a 13-0 campaign in 1972-73. His overall college coaching in wrestling is 230-184-8 in 27 years.

Cheynet coached high school wrestling at Oakley, Kansas before coaching at the college level and served as the graduate assistant wrestling coach at Kansas State University in 1967 while obtaining his master’s degree. He earned All-Big Eight Conference honors and was an NCAA All-American as a senior in 1966 when he finished sixth in the NCAA tournament.

Cheynet has been married 42 years to the former Mary Jane Faust of Independence, Kansas. The couple has two sons, George and John. George and his wife Sandee are from Bluefield, Virginia and have three children, Conner, who is eight years old, and Morgan and McKenzie, who are both six years old. John and his wife Kayla are from Covington, Virginia and have three children, Austin, who is seven years old, Grant, who is five years old, and Ellie, who is one year old.