Chris Bono was an NCAA champion, three-time All-American, and a two-time Big 12 champion for Iowa State University with a career college record of 128-34.

He placed fifth at the NCAA championships as a sophomore in 1995 before winning the 150-pound crown in 1996 and placing second in 1997.

Bono was a member of U.S. freestyle World championships teams in 2001, 2002 and 2005 and was a four-time freestyle national champion.

He was a three-time state wrestling champion for Bolles High School in Jacksonville, Florida, from 1990-92.

Bono was hired as the 16th head coach in University of Wisconsin history on March 24, 2018 and he and his staff are rebuilding the Wisconsin wrestling program into a Big Ten and national powerhouse. 

He was an assistant at Iowa State for nine years and was named the National Wrestling Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year in 2002.  Bono then spent three seasons as the head coach at Chattanooga and led the Mocs to three Southern Conference titles, coaching two All-Americans and 19 NCAA qualifiers from 2006-09.

Bono spent the six seasons prior to being hired at Wisconsin as the head coach at South Dakota State, establishing the Jackrabbits as a national contender and a powerhouse in the Big 12, coaching three conference champions in the program's three years in the league. The Jackrabbits had their best season in the final year under Bono: the program's first national title at 133 pounds and the team placing 12th in the NCAA tournament, the highest finish of any Big 12 team. Bono had coached five All-Americans at South Dakota State, including three in his last season with the Jackrabbits. He produced two the year before, marking the first All-Americans for South Dakota State at the Division I level. Bono had at least one NCAA Qualifier since taking the reins of the program and had a school-record seven in the most recent tournament. Bono left SDSU with a 64-41 overall record, a total of 24 NCAA qualifiers, five All-Americans and one national champion.