Thad Benton
Thad Benton joined the Claysburg-Kimmel varsity wrestling team as a freshman in 1997 when he earned the starting spot at 135 pounds Benton went on to compile a 26-7 record and place second in the District 6 Tournament.
In 1998 he earned a 32-4 record along earning the Outstanding Wrestler at the Blair County Wrestling Tournament during the season and won his first District 6 Championship, captured the Southwest Regional title. and placed 5th in the state at 135 pounds.
Thad continued his success his junior year with a 37-2 record along with his second District 6 tournament championship, a third-place finish at the Southwest Regional tournament and a PIAA state runner-up finish at 130 pounds.
During his senior season, he finished with a 35-2 record after earning his 3rd District 6 tournament championship, his second Southwest Regional championship, and his third PIAA Class AA state tournament medal after finishing third in the state. Thad also earned All-American honors in the Greco-Roman National Tournament at Fargo, ND, as well as at the NHSCA Senior National Tournament.
The teams that Benton competed on earned 4 trips to the District 6 Dual Meet Tournament while winning 2 District 6 Dual Meet Championships (1999 and 2000), 2 Southwest Regional Championships (1999 and 2000) and in the top 5 at the PIAA state wrestling tournament in 1999, 2000 and 2001.
From 2001 through 2006, Benton’s efforts on the Pitt-Johnstown wrestling mat established him as one of the all-time greats in Mountain Cat history. Benton, a three-time All-American, became Pitt-Johnstown’s eighth individual wrestler to win a NCAA Division II National Championship in 2005, before becoming the third to win multiple titles when he duplicated the feat again the following season.
As a red-shirt freshman in 2002-03, Benton won the starting job at 133 pounds and posted a 25-9 overall record on his way to securing his first All-America honor with a fifth-place finish and earning the Most Falls in the Least Amount of Time Award at the National Tournament.
A year later, Thad was 16-2 before an injury ended his season.
Benton returned to the mat in 2004-05 at 141 pounds and went 30-5 with a team-leading 16 falls. He claimed his first of two NCAA East Regional crowns, before defeating Nebraska-Omaha’s Eli Dominguez, 9-4, in the national title bout at 141 pounds to become Pitt-Johnstown’s eighth individual champion and help lead the Mountain Cats to a fourth-place finish. That season, Wrestling Report.com named him Pennsylvania’s Collegiate Wrestler of the Year.
Benton continued to dominate in his final year by going 41-6 with 17 more falls, winning the title at 141 pounds at the Slippery Rock Open and placing eighth at the Division I-dominated Midlands Open. After winning his second consecutive East Region Championship, Benton led Pitt-Johnstown to a sixth-place national finish and became the Mountain Cats’ third wrestler to win multiple national titles with his win over Central Oklahoma’s Kyle Evans.
His 17 falls in 2005-06 are still a Pitt-Johnstown record for the 141-pound weight class, while his 121 career wins rank 16th on the Mountain Cat wins list, and his .842 winning percentage is ninth on the winning percentage list.
Benton graduated from Pitt-Johnstown in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Geography and began his professional career working for former Pitt-Johnstown Wrestling National Runner-up Sean Isgan at CME Engineering in Somerset, Pa. In 2020, he moved to EVC (Enterprise Venture Corporation) where he was employed as a Quality Control Laboratory Technician.
In Sept. 2024, Benton joined LTC Energy in Johnstown and is currently employed as a surveyor with the company.
He currently coaches his daughter’s youth softball team and has served as an assistant wrestling coach at Richland High School in Johnstown since 2008. He helped the program produce three state champions, a runner-up, and multiple PIAA state placewinners.
Benton and his wife Cortney reside in Johnstown and are raising three girls: Cali, Tylee, and Kensley.
---
