| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1922-06-08)June 8, 1922 |
| Died | August 3, 1957(1957-08-03) (aged 35) nearBoody, Illinois, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1942 | Illinois |
| 1945–1946 | Illinois |
| Position(s) | Center |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1947–1949 | Quincy (IL) |
| 1950–1953 | North Dakota State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 30–27–1 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 2Pioneer Conference (1947–1949) | |
Mac Paul Wenskunas (June 8, 1922 – August 3, 1957) was an Americancollege football player and coach. He served as the head football coach atQuincy College from 1947 to 1949 and at North Dakota Agricultural College—now known asNorth Dakota State University—from 1950 to 1953, compiling a career head coaching record of 30–27–1.
A native ofGeorgetown, Illinois, Wenskunas played football as acenter at theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. He lettered for theIllinois Fighting Illini in 1942, 1945, and 1946. He was captain of the1946 Illinois Fighting Illini football team, which won theBig Ten Conference and the1947 Rose Bowl. He was a member of the 1947 All-Star team. His college playing years were interrupted by his service in theMarines during World War II.[1]
He was drafted by theChicago Cardinals in the second round of the1946 NFL draft with the 11th overall pick, but he was just a junior at the time and did not go to the NFL that year. The following year, he was drafted by theChicago Rockets with the 136th pick in the 18th round of the1947 AAFC Draft. Instead of playing football, he went into coaching. He spent three years as the head football coach at Quincy College, where his teams went 19–6 over three seasons and won thePioneer Conference every year.[2] He then became head coach of North Dakota Agricultural College.[3]
After leaving coaching he moved to Athens, Ohio and then Decatur, Illinois working as a salesman for the Jostin Classroom Jewelry Company.[1]
Wenskunas died with his wife in a two-car crash on August 3, 1957, nearBoody, Illinois, that also killed three other people.[1][4]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quincy Hawks(Pioneer Conference)(1947–1949) | |||||||||
| 1947 | Quincy | 4–3 | 3–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1948 | Quincy | 7–2 | 3–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1949 | Quincy | 8–1 | 3–0 | 1st | |||||
| Quincy: | 19–21–6 | 9–0 | |||||||
| North Dakota State Bison(North Central Conference)(1950–1953) | |||||||||
| 1950 | North Dakota State | 2–7 | 0–6 | 7th | |||||
| 1951 | North Dakota State | 1–5–1 | 1–4–1 | 6th | |||||
| 1952 | North Dakota State | 5–4 | 4–2 | 2nd | |||||
| 1953 | North Dakota State | 3–5 | 2–4 | T–4th | |||||
| North Dakota State: | 11–21–1 | 7–16–1 | |||||||
| Total: | 11–21–1 | ||||||||
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