Rick Benedetto was a long time coach and teacher at Wheeling High School. Rick first served as an assistant football coach, a position he held for 17 years. Rick was on the staff in 1881 when Wheeling won 7 games for the first time in its history. Rick took over as the head coach in 1983. Rick would serve as the head coach for 12 years, and finish with a career record of 61-50. To date, Rick is the longest tenured head football coach in the history of Wheeling High School. In 1984, Rick’s team became the 2nd team in history with 7 wins. The following seasonnRick guided the Wildcats to their first ever conference title and IHSA playoff appearance. The 1988 team also won the conference championship and made the playoffs for the second time in school history. In 1994 Coach Benedetto’s team again won the MSL conference and qualified for the IHSA playoffs. That team became the only team in the history of Wheeling to win a playoff game, and holds the record for most wins with 9. As the head football coach, Rick was also selected as the MSL coach of the year 2 times. Besides football, Rick also served as the head baseball coach, assistant basketball coach, and assistant golf coach