Lester Belding

Lester Cort Belding (December 5, 1900 – May 27, 1965) was an American athlete and coach in football and track and field.[1] He was the first football player from the University of Iowa to be named an All-American. He was inducted into the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame in 1963.

Lester Belding
Biographical details
Born(1900-12-05)December 5, 1900
Mason City, Iowa
DiedMay 26, 1965(1965-05-26) (aged 64)
Naperville, Illinois
Playing career
Football
1919–1921Iowa
Position(s)End
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1927North Carolina (freshmen)
1934–1942Dakota Wesleyan
1945North Central (IL)
Basketball
1934–1943Dakota Wesleyan
1944–1945Dakota Wesleyan
1946–1948North Central (IL)
Track and field
1945–1965North Central (IL)
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1934–1945Dakota Wesleyan
1945–1965North Central (IL)
Head coaching record
Overall27–39–2 (college football)
162–63 (college basketball)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Football
1 SDIC (1936)

Basketball
3 SDIC regular season (1939–1940, 1943)
Awards
Consensus All-American (1919)
3× All-Big Ten (1919, 1920, 1921)
University of Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame

Early years

A native of Mason City, Iowa, Belding was a star football player for Mason City High School from 1914 to 1917.[2]

University of Iowa

Football

Belding enrolled at the University of Iowa where he played football for legendary coach Howard Jones. He was a consensus Football All-American at the end position in 1919,[3] the first player from the University of Iowa to receive the honor.[4] Considered "one of the nation's premier collegiate pass catchers of his era,"[4][5] he played on the undefeated 1921 national championship team that outscored opponents 123–15 and included Gordon Locke, Aubrey Devine, Glenn Devine, and Duke Slater. He was also a three-time first team All-Big Ten Conference selection.[5]

Track

Belding was also the captain of Iowa's track team in 1921, competing in the 100 and 220-yard dashes.[2][5]

Coach and athletic director

After graduating from Iowa in 1922, Belding became a coach. He coached at a prep school in Boulder, Colorado.[6] In 1923, Belding accepted a coaching position in Clinton, Iowa,[6] where he coached two state championship football teams.[2] He next accepted a position at the freshman coach at the University of North Carolina. He later served as the high school coach at Greensboro, North Carolina for seven years.[2] In 1933, Belding returned to Iowa where he was put in charge of high school athletics at Reinbeck, Iowa.[2][7] From 1934 to 1945, he was the athletic director and head football and basketball coach at Dakota Wesleyan College in Mitchell, South Dakota.[2][8][9] He finished his career serving 20 years, from 1945 to 1965, as a track and football coach and athletic director at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois.[1][9] in 1963, Belding was inducted into the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame.[10]

Belding died of a heart attack in 1965 at age 64.[1] He was posthumously inducted into the University of Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame in 1991.

Head coaching record

College football

Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs
Dakota Wesleyan Tigers (South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference) (1934–1939)
1934 Dakota Wesleyan 0–7–10–6–110th
1935 Dakota Wesleyan 3–42–3T–6th
1936 Dakota Wesleyan 5–2–15–0–1T–1st
1937 Dakota Wesleyan 3–41–26th
1938 Dakota Wesleyan 5–34–12nd
1939 Dakota Wesleyan 2–52–3T–6th
Dakota Wesleyan Tigers (South Dakota College Conference) (1950–1942)
1940 Dakota Wesleyan 3–3
1941 Dakota Wesleyan 2–5
1942 Dakota Wesleyan 1–3–1
Dakota Wesleyan: 24–36–3
North Central Cardinals (Independent) (1945)
1945 North Central 3–3
North Central: 3–3
Total:27–39–2
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

College basketball

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Dakota Wesleyan Tigers (South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference) (1934–1943)
1934–35 Dakota Wesleyan 14–310–32nd
1935–36 Dakota Wesleyan 10–510–42nd
1936–37 Dakota Wesleyan 12–57–32nd
1937–38 Dakota Wesleyan 11–107–54th
1938–39 Dakota Wesleyan 20–311–21st
1939–40 Dakota Wesleyan 14–57–11st
1940–41 Dakota Wesleyan 16–5
1941–42 Dakota Wesleyan 8–8
1942–43 Dakota Wesleyan 21–211–11st
Dakota Wesleyan Tigers (South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference) (1944–1945)
1944–45 Dakota Wesleyan 13–4
Dakota Wesleyan: 139–50
North Central Cardinals (College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) (1946–1948)
1946–47 North Central 13–48–22nd
1947–48 North Central 10–95–5T–3rd
North Central: 23–1313–7
Total:162–63

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. "Lester Belding, former Iowa All-America, dies". Globe-Gazette. Mason City, Iowa. May 28, 1965. p. 3. Retrieved April 24, 2019 via Newspapers.com .
  2. "They Started Here: A Mason City Series of Success Stories; No. 15, Lester Belding, College Coach". Mason City Globe-Gazette. 1940-06-29.
  3. Consensus All-American designations based on the NCAA guide to football award winners Archived July 14, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  4. Mike Finn; Lou Prato; Ron Falk; Chad Leistikow (1998). Hawkeye Legends, Lists, & Lore, p. 31. Sports Publishing LLC. ISBN 1-57167-178-1.
  5. "Iowa's Consensus All-Americans". Hawkeye Sports. Archived from the original on 2011-01-28.
  6. "Gets Belding's Post". Iowa City Press-Citizen. 1923-07-16.
  7. "Lester Belding Is Coach At Reinbeck". Oelwein Daily Register. 1933-09-01.
  8. "Belding Takes Director Post: Dakota Wesleyan College to Have Mason Cityan as Phys. Ed. Head". Mason City Globe-Gazette. 1934-05-29.
  9. "Lester Belding Moves From Dakota Wesleyan to Illinois College". Mason City Globe-Gazette. 1945-08-11.
  10. "Belding Honored". Mason City Globe-Gazette. 1963-05-29.
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