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American football player and coach (1900–1965) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lester Cort Belding (December 5, 1900 – May 27, 1965) was an American athlete and coach in football, basketball, and track and field.[1] He was the first football player from the University of Iowa to be named a consensus All-American. He was inducted into the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame in 1963.
Belding in 1923 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 5, 1900 Mason City, Iowa, U.S. |
| Died | May 26, 1965 (aged 64) Naperville, Illinois, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1919–1921 | Iowa |
| Position(s) | End |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1927 | North Carolina (freshmen) |
| 1934–1942 | Dakota Wesleyan |
| 1945 | North Central (IL) |
| Basketball | |
| 1934–1943 | Dakota Wesleyan |
| 1944–1945 | Dakota Wesleyan |
| 1946–1948 | North Central (IL) |
| Track and field | |
| 1945–1965 | North Central (IL) |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1934–1945 | Dakota Wesleyan |
| 1945–1965 | North Central (IL) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 27–39–2 (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 | |
A native of Mason City, Iowa, Belding was a star football player for Mason City High School from 1914 to 1917.[2]
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]
Belding was also the captain of Iowa's track team in 1921, competing in the 100 and 220-yard dashes.[2][5]
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.
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dakota Wesleyan Tigers (South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference) (1934–1939) | |||||||||
| 1934 | Dakota Wesleyan | 0–7–1 | 0–6–1 | 10th | |||||
| 1935 | Dakota Wesleyan | 3–4 | 2–3 | T–6th | |||||
| 1936 | Dakota Wesleyan | 5–2–1 | 5–0–1 | T–1st | |||||
| 1937 | Dakota Wesleyan | 3–4 | 1–2 | 6th | |||||
| 1938 | Dakota Wesleyan | 5–3 | 4–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1939 | Dakota Wesleyan | 2–5 | 2–3 | T–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 | |||||||||
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dakota Wesleyan Tigers (South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference) (1934–1943) | |||||||||
| 1934–35 | Dakota Wesleyan | 14–3 | 10–3 | 2nd | |||||
| 1935–36 | Dakota Wesleyan | 10–5 | 10–4 | 2nd | |||||
| 1936–37 | Dakota Wesleyan | 12–5 | 7–3 | 2nd | |||||
| 1937–38 | Dakota Wesleyan | 11–10 | 7–5 | 4th | |||||
| 1938–39 | Dakota Wesleyan | 20–3 | 11–2 | 1st | |||||
| 1939–40 | Dakota Wesleyan | 14–5 | 7–1 | 1st | |||||
| 1940–41 | Dakota Wesleyan | 16–5 | |||||||
| 1941–42 | Dakota Wesleyan | 8–8 | |||||||
| 1942–43 | Dakota Wesleyan | 21–2 | 11–1 | 1st | |||||
| 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 | 13–4 | 8–2 | 2nd | |||||
| 1947–48 | North Central | 10–9 | 5–5 | T–3rd | |||||
| North Central: | 23–13 | 13–7 | |||||||
| Total: | 162–63 | ||||||||
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National champion
Postseason invitational champion
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