A. Wayne Bennett graduated from Beckley's Woodrow Wilson High School in 1968 where he participated in cross country, wrestling and track. He received a B.A. degree from Morris Harvey College along with an M.A. degree from the West Virginia College of Graduate Studies and an M.A. from Marshall University. After coaching two years of wrestling at Woodrow Wilson, he became athletic director at the Beckley YMCA. During this six year period, he directed and instructed numerous wrestling camps and clinics. He also founded the first youth wrestling league in southern West Virginia. He began coaching at Park Junior High School in 1983. His football teams had great success for fourteen years and Park's Wrestling teams did well for over twenty years. The Roadrunners won over sixty tournaments including the WSAZ Tournament four times, (Runner-up twice). Wayne also coached cross country and track and served as the school's Athletic Director. In addition to coaching, he was a wrestling official for 28 years, working many conferences and regional championships. Wayne has been a wrestling columnist for the Beckley Register-Herald since 1982. In 2001, he was voted the West Virginia "Sportswriter of the Year" and Wrestling USA's "Sportswriter of the Year." He is also a member of the Raleigh County Wrestling Hall of Fame. Wayne recently retired as Principal at Park Middle High, and now keeps busy as a builder, gardener, and freelance writer. Wayne and his loving wife Diana are the parents of two sons-John (Rhonda) and Jeremy (Kelli). They have four wonderful grandchildren, Chase, Ian, Jessica, and Kassi.