Born in Chicago, Illinois, Mike Stanbridge's early life saw his parents relocate to Fayetteville, North Carolina, due to military transfers.

In 1966, he graduated from Seventy-First High School where he played football and baseball. Wrestling, however, wasn't offered as a sport at Seventy-First during his high school tenure. 

Stanbridge then attended Pembroke State University, where he graduated with a degree in Health and Physical Education.

In 1972, Cape Fear High School in Fayetteville hired Stanbridge to start a wrestling program. Despite having never previously wrestled, he quickly built Cape Fear into a wrestling power in North Carolina.

His 1984 team achieved a perfect 14-0 record, won the North Carolina High School Athletic Association individual state tournament, and earned Stanbridge the honor of NC MAT NEWS Coach of the Year. His 1980 and 1985 teams each finished as the runner-up in the NCHSAA state tournament.

After an illustrious 28-year coaching career at Cape Fear, Stanbridge continued to make an impact on the wrestling scene by serving as the head wrestling coach at E.E. Smith, South View, and Terry Sanford High Schools in Fayetteville.

Stanbridge’s coaching career spanned 45 seasons as a head wrestling coach along with 45 years coaching football and 18 years coaching baseball. 

He officially retired from coaching in 2019.

Stanbridge was inducted into the Fayetteville Sports Club Hall of Fame in 2011 and received the Lifetime Service to Wrestling award from the North Carolina Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2012.