Jim Bennett grew up in Corry, Pennsylvania and graduated from Corry Area High School where he competed in cross country, track and field, and wrestling. He won three state championships in two different sports, capturing two Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class A titles in the pole vault and a state title in wrestling.

He won the 1975 NCAA Division I national championship at 142 pounds and was a two-time All- American for Yale University. During his collegiate wrestling career, he earned a dual meet record of 49 wins and 4 losses while being named All-Ivy for four years.

Jim graduated from Yale University in 1976 with honors in economics and Russian Studies. While completing an MBA at Harvard Business School, he was assistant coach for the Harvard University wrestling team.

Jim also trained for the United States Olympic team winning the Northeast Regional Olympic Freestyle Trials and finishing in the top eight at the Olympic Trials in 1980. He is a member of the Corry Sports Hall of Fame, the Erie County Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, and the Pennsylvania State Wrestling Hall of Fame.

In 2016 he was selected as the Team Leader for the USA Women’s National Team for the four-year cycle ending with the Tokyo Olympics.

After business school, Jim worked in the investment business and was the founder and president of Bennett Management. For 30 years the firm was a registered investment advisor that focused on investments in financially distressed companies and special situations. Since 2019, he has been the President of a family office, Granby Capital Management.

Both Jim and his wife, Amy, are active in athletic and educational philanthropy through the James and Amy Bennett Foundation. They have actively assisted women’s wrestling programs at the youth, high school, college, and national levels through various organizations.

They believe that "Women wrestlers have achieved great accomplishments in a short period of time. It is exciting to imagine what’s to come in the next decade for women's wrestling on the national and global level."