Wrestling legend Kristoff retires

Larry Kristoff has decided to retire from his duties as SIUE's wrestling head coach and as an associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education.

Kristoff, who was named the National Collegiate Althletics Association Division II Coach of the Year two times, will retire effective January 1.

Booker Benford will take over as the new head coach of the Cougar wrestling team. Benford had been the assistant coach to Kristoff at SIUE for the past six seasons.

Kristoff led the Cougars to three consecutive national championships at SIUE from 1984 to 1986. He compiled an impressive career coaching record of 210-200-12 since he became head coach of the Cougars when the team was introduced in 1969.

From 1974 to 1988, every one of Kristoff's wrestling squads placed sixth or better at the NCAA-Division II Championships. He has coached 52 NCAA Division II All-Americans as well as 11 NCAA Division I All-Americans and 18 national champions at SIUE.

Kristoff's achievements as a head coach have landed him in four Halls of Fame. He is a member of the Hall of Fame for SIU-Carbondale, NCAA Division II Wrestling, the Illinois Coaches Association and the Midlands Tournament. He is a member of the NCAA Division II Hall of Fame as both a wrestler and a coach.

Kristoff began his career as a wrestling coach at Southwest Missouri State University. He was head coach for the U.S. World Cup team three times and coached for the United States at the World Championships. As a coach, Kristoff has been to countries such as Mexico, Russia, Cuba and Yugoslavia.

At the 1966 Pan-American Games, Kristoff won a gold medal. He won three silver and two bronze medals at the World Championships, and was a part of the U.S. Olympic team twice. Kristoff won 11 AAU Freestyle and Greco-Roman national titles and five National Federation championships as well.

In 1966, Kristoff graduated from SIU-Carbondale, earning both a bachelor's and master's degree in education. He won two national titles as a Saluki wrestler. His sons Mark and Kip were both four-time All-Americans and each won a national championship with their father as a mentor.

While he was a student at SIUE, Benford compiled an individual record of 161-34-1. His 161 victories is still the all-time record at SIUE. Benford was an All-American four times in his career, and holds the single-season record for victories with 53 in his final year in 1985.

Benford was an NCAA Division II national champion in both 1984 and 1985 when the Cougars won their first two of their three straight national championships. Benford also earned All-American honors for advancing to the NCAA Division I Championships.

Benford earned a bachelor of science degree at SIUE in business administration in 1986. He secured an alternate position for both the 1988 and 1992 Olympic freestyle wrestling teams.