Gregory Benko
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Gregory Benko, born in Melbourne, Australia, was a foil fencer.
Benko, a graduate of Bentliegh (Victoria Anst.) High School, earned four varsity letters (1973-74-75-76) as a foil fencer on Wayne State's men's fencing team.
Before joining Wayne, Benko had already participated in the 1972 Summer Olympics (in Munich) before Wayne State coach Istvan Danosi welcomed his first Australian recruit. Though a native of Australia, Benko's parents are natives of Hungary. Both escaped during World War II, and immigrated to Australia. Danosi, also a native of Hungary, first encountered Benko at the 1970 World Junior Championships in Madrid, in which Benko finished in the final 6. Danosi approached Benko, questioned him about his Hungarian-sounding surname, and both struck an immediate friendship. Danosi offered Benko a scholarship to Wayne State. After finishing in the Top 16 of the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics for the Australian National Team, Benko came to Detroit to begin his Wayne career.
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[edit] College career
Benko established an NCAA record by winning three national foil individual championships (1974, 1975, and 1976). New York University's sabreur Michael Lofton now holds the record with four titles (1984-87), the maximum in one weapon.
Benko tied another NCAA record when he became the second fencer in NCAA history, and the first foilist, to earn All-America First Team honors in all four years of competition.
In his first NCAA national competition, 1973, Benko finished third.
Benko compiled an impressive 290-1 collegiate dual record in foil, losing only one bout his freshman campaign. He was undefeated his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons in regular season competition. Adding competition in the Great Lakes and NCAAs, Benko lost only 1 of 329 bouts in his entire Wayne career, for a .976 overall winning percentage. He went undefeated his junior year (66-0), and finished with a 99-2 overall record his senior season.
Benko received his Bachelor of Arts in English from Wayne State in 1979.
[edit] Post-college career
After finishing his WSU career, Benko returned to the International circuit, where he was ranked in the Top 10 in foil from 1977-81.
He won two international competitions in foil - the 1975 Martini & Rossi Invitational in New York, and the 1982 Paris Invitational. Benko also captured the 1978 Gold Medal in foil and epee in the British Commonwealth Games, and won the Silver Foil Medal in the 1970 games.
[edit] Australian National Champion
Benko is a 19-time Australian National Foil Champion.
[edit] Olympics
He finished 6th in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, 9th in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and 17th in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
[edit] Halls of Fame
He has been inducted into the Australian Olympic Hall of Fame and the NCAA Collegiate Hall of Fame.
[edit] Family
Under the tutelage of his father, his son Michael is the Australian Under 12 Foil Champion. Benko is also a coach for the Spartacus Fencing Club in Melbourne. Benko is manager of james dean motors dealership in Melbourne.
