The question is ‘How do you even try?’ Or, ‘Why even bother?’ Because, the number of accomplishments and honors Jason Christenson has accumulated throughout his coaching career might just be too exhaustive to list. So the mind wonders how it will manage the task before also asking if there is a risk involved in doing so. Despite Christenson’s wealth of coaching experience and achievements, he basically drips with humility. He can’t help it. Just who he is. Therefore, to go and drone on and on about Christenson’s accolades could, potentially, cause for him a twinge of embarrassment. In an American wrestling culture which equates credentials to currency, Christenson is an outlier. He certainly has the credentials but his currency is, instead, character.
But we’ll give it a whirl, anyway, and probably leave a bulletpoint or two, or three, or more, out in the process.
The Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame, which recently selected Christenson for induction, streamlined this entire endeavor, even if it is only a summation:
— Head coach, Collins-Baxter-Maxwell High School (1991-97).
— Head coach, Oskaloosa High School (1997-01).
— Head coach, Southeast Polk High School (2001-20).
— 482-106-6 dual meet record.
— Coached 186 state qualifiers, 127 state placewinners, and 25 state champions.
— 9 state team titles.
— 6 runner-up finishes.
— 24 top-4 finishes at the state championships.
— Coached 22 USA Wrestling National champions, 45 Fargo All-Americans, and 7 Fargo individual champs.
— 3X Iowa USA Wrestling Coach of the Year (2001, ’10, and ’12).
— 2007 USA Wrestling Developmental Coach of the Year.
— 2013 (and first-ever) Bob Siddens Coaching Excellence Award
— 2019 National Wrestling Coaches Association Scholastic Coach of the Year.
— 2020 National Wrestling Hall of Fame Lifetime Service Award.
And there are more distinctions than those presented above, and they all tell the same story: even if one does not know intimately-well exactly who Jason Christenson is, at the very least there is somewhat decent evidence to suggest that he knows how to run a practice room and motivate a gaggle of wrestlers. Right? Right?
Except such a thought by far misses the big picture. All of the awards and accomplishments are nice, but they are merely the byproducts of a man who knows the sport and, more importantly, knows how to connect with athletes. And if you care to rank those two directives in order, the latter trumps the former. Plenty of wrestling coaches are beholden to an extensive knowledge base. Not as many understand that the most critical aspect of their occupations is building relationships. Fostering relationships is so high of a priority for Christenson that he mentions it numerous times in his dialogue below.
That’s the kind of guy who the United States National program now has in the fold as the first Greco-Roman head coach in the history of Doane University.
Following months of discussions, hypotheticals, and cautious enthusiasm, Doane University’s addition of Greco-Roman wrestling was officially announced this past November. Right away, Christenson’s name was attached to all of the talk pertaining to desired candidates. He had retired from coaching at Southeast Polk High in ’20, though he is still the school’s strength coach. None of that meant he was done. Not really. Mainly because he likely and correctly knew deep inside that he had more in the tank.
This particular opportunity, cultivated in part by the National Greco program along with Doane, fully reignited something inside of Christenson. He had long loved Greco-Roman both as a competitor and age-group team leader, but it had not previously been his primary concentration from a coaching perspective. He had acquired untold amounts of techniques, drills, and training protocols, but sans a full-time outlet at his disposal to let loose. Now, after three decades of successful coaching under his belt, he’s got one.
And it could not have come at a better time, perhaps for him, but especially for Greco-Roman in these United States. The US program is fraught with challenges and is in dire need of availing more resources and chances for young athletes who might be interested in pursuing the classical style on a World and Olympic level. America has had Northern Michigan University for, by now, 26 years. There is the Olympic and Paralympic Training Center, as well, and for three seasons Williams Baptist University was an option for high school grads to chase after their Greco dreams. But, other than a few college regional training centers scattered across the country, that has been it. Doane — located in Crete, Nebraska — entering the fray provides a potentially vital gateway for would-be “Greco guys” in a vast region of the nation that is teeming with talent. Nebraska borders six states: South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Wyoming, Kansas, and Colorado — each of which has produced their share of gifted, capable athletes. Other states are reachable, too, and if you’re a high schooler who would like to continue wrestling in college and have always had kind of a thing for Greco, Christenson wants to talk to you. If you happen to reside from outside of the general vicinity surrounding Doane, by no means are you excluded. It is part of Christenson’s mission to shepherd both the committed and curious to his new program, no matter where they are from.
Ultimately, this whole thing is not limited to just a wrestling style, and it is not only about an attempt to boost participation in Greco-Roman, one of the original Olympic disciplines. While it is wonderful that Doane University has opened its doors to such a cause, the reality is that wrestling success will not be the sole objective for those who join the team. They may think that it is. To be sure, their skill development and competitive fortitudes will be nurtured and tested — and if these student-athletes remain devout, they will experience on-the-mat growth that could eventually yield incredible results. But rarely will one stumble upon a wrestler who reached his apex without likewise growing in character. Christenson is more than capable of imparting the technical and developmental tools required for athletes to succeed. However, young men need more than that. Much more. They need to know that they are cared for. They need to trust the coach who is guiding their every step inside of the practice room, and they need to trust him even more whenever it feels like the walls are crashing down around them. This, all of this, is Christenson’s specialty.
In the coming months, and hopefully years, many high school wrestlers who still have big goals, wide eyes, and strong desires will check in on Doane or go so far as to visit the university to see what might await should they choose to enroll.
They will visit because of an interest in Greco-Roman wrestling. They will stay because of Christenson.
5PM Interview with Jason Christenson
Head Greco-Roman Coach — Doane University
5PM: What is it about this station in your life, and in your coaching career, that made this opportunity desirable for you?
Jason Christenson: I think the best way to put it is that I realized after retirement from high school coaching that the relationships just aren’t the same. The coach-athlete relationship is a lot different than teacher-student. Even though I was a strength coach at that time, and still am right now, it is a little bit of a broader spectrum than you’re working with. The ability for me to do Greco-Roman full-time, and to pour that into athletes — not only the style but also to build that relationship with kids again — got me really excited about this position and piqued my interest.
5PM: You had coached Greco and Greco kids previously, but at this stage are you familiar with some of the challenges facing the US program at the current moment?
Christenson: Yes, absolutely. I currently serve on the Board of Directors for USA Wrestling and I’m also the Northern Plains Chair of Chairs, so I’m the state chair of Iowa. That has been something that has gone hand-in-hand with my scholastic coaching career and my involvement with Iowa USA Wrestling. I started out as our Greco coach in 1995, when I got back and onto the staff; then I was the head Greco coach from ’97 until 2002, or somewhere along those lines. My first involvement was right in there as a coach and then I turned into more of an administrator and worked my way into the state chair position when Mark Reiland, our former state chair, passed away. I had decided to take the interim position and kind of stuck in that position since that time.
So, as a roundabout answer, I’ve always been highly-involved with the international styles in our country, in our state, and in our region. I definitely know that there is a niche that needs to be filled, and that is another thing that has me excited about Doane and this opportunity.
5PM: We currently only have Northern Michigan University as the premier collegiate Greco program. We also have the Olympic Training Center, and there are a handful of RTC’s (regional training centers) that support Greco-Roman athletes in their facilities. This is a sizable gap in our program compared to freestyle. How do you see Doane filling this gap from a regional standpoint regards to its location?
Christenson: I think the big thing is that there is obviously some really good Greco-Roman wrestling in Nebraska. They have some great clubs there doing some great work. Me being not so far away in Iowa, we have had some huge successes in recent years at Fargo in Greco, and at the (Cadet and Junior) Duals, as well.
We’re kind of situated in-between. I think that we are about six hours away from Denver, or seven from Colorado Springs. Something like that. That is a day’s drive. I know that we joked about driving earlier, but we would think nothing of jumping in some vans and going to the OPTC (Olympic and Paralympic Training Center) if we can. We also have some of those RTC’s, and obviously Northern is up there, but it is a really big Midwest focus right now. We’re spreading it a little more west. That I would guess is the gap we’re filling as far as location. We have the Southern Plains, as well. It’s not that far. We’re pretty centrally-located in the country. So, access from everywhere.
5PM: Given your longtime involvement both as a high school coach and also with the Iowa federation, do high school-aged athletes respond differently to potential opportunities compared to the previous generation? I’m asking this as far as recruitment goes. What do you think they are typically looking for?
Christenson: It’s pretty new to me as far as the recruiting game goes. I think that, or my perception is, they are looking for fit. Most of them are looking for how they are going to be able to achieve their goals. The ones who know what they want to do? Those are the full-time Greco kids. Or, those are the kids who are willing to make that commitment to go full-time. The interesting thing about Doane is that we would be the only ones who can say, ‘Yup, we are the only ones who are going to allow you to continue focusing on your dreams in Greco-Roman wrestling — but if you still have some goals in folkstyle, too, then we are going to mesh those together pretty well due to how we have everything set up.’ For example, the practices that I’m running are going to be full-time Greco, but they can wrestle on the collegiate folkstyle team, as well.
Getting back to those recruits, I think that they are just looking to put themselves in the best situation possible they can to achieve those goals. And I think that kids now maybe realize it is going to be a lot harder to wait until after their collegiate careers are done. One of the strengths of wrestling in the United States is that we learn how to compete. Our competitive behaviors and our competitive skills are probably much higher than anywhere else in the world just because of the age when we start that, and the emphasis we put on winning at that age in a lot of cases. I think the realization is there that, ‘Hey, you can’t just throw it to the side and forget about Greco.’ That is a niche that we fill. I know that there is the NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) and that is going to hit a lot of guys. That has changed college wrestling, for sure. But — if you’re going to be successful in Greco-Roman, and for those who are, they already know that is what they want. This just gives them the opportunity to get there a little bit differently.
5PM: I’m sure you see that there is a sentiment among some — and I’m one of them — who believe that for the US to regain its foothold internationally in Greco is to try and get as many teenagers over into Greco as possible sooner rather than later. But this is also a sort of code based on the belief that the folkstyle system holds Greco back, particularly since it has become ubiquitous all year long. Where do you come off on this discussion? I’m not saying that we cast all of the blame on folkstyle, but there is a resentment towards folkstyle’s stranglehold on wrestling development.
Jason Christenson: Yeah, and I don’t know how to fix that. You can say that we need to get more kids into wrestling Greco-Roman full-time in high school, and that’s a great thing if that is what these kids want. To take a step back, I guess as a teacher that I think of education as the answer to a lot of things. When I look at Greco-Roman wrestling, if you’re not familiar with it as a high school coach, then you’re probably not going to give your kids opportunities to be successful in that style, or even to where they would have interest in it. I really think that — and maybe this leads to things we can talk about down the road — educating our scholastic coaches on Greco-Roman wrestling is huge. Most of my career has been spent coaching high school and some of the very best athletes who I coached did all three styles. That was important to me in their development as a complete and total wrestler.
We can still use some of the things that are great about folkstyle wrestling. Like we talked about earlier, the conditioning aspect, the mental toughness aspect, the American competitiveness aspect… We can take all of these to help us win. I think when you look at the past with guys like Joe Warren and Steve Fraser, who had successful Division I careers… Those are just two names I’m picking out, but one was a World Champion (Warren) and the other was an Olympic Champion (Fraser). So I don’t think that we have to throw away the folkstyle system, but I know that we cannot neglect Greco-Roman wrestling.
5PM: That is a solid diplomatic answer.
Christenson: (Laughs) Well, part of our thing for Doane is that maybe there is a kid who just isn’t sure. Like, ‘Man, I would really like to go Greco and I think this is what I want to do, but I kind of like folkstyle, too, and it’s what I grew up with, and this is an opportunity to do both.’ Maybe that is why part of my answer is that way. If I’m at Northern, I’m probably saying something different.
But I think that is one of our selling points, to tell these guys, Hey, if you’re not sure yet about committing 100% to Greco, okay. That’s fine, you can wrestle on the collegiate team and then I’ll take you from August to October or so, and maybe we get to go to the Bill Farrell Memorial, and we’ll go folkstyle after that. And as soon as your season is over, we’ll get ready to go. I’m just going to pick out Tyson Beauparthy, who is a U23 National champ. He’s on the Doane team and just got second at the NAIA nationals. You can call him “raw” in Greco. He has a good pedigree and has had some good results, but he is the type of kid who could be developed here. He is going to get better, and he is going to keep getting better because of the experience. He just hasn’t had a lot of experience yet Greco-wise aside from the U23 tournament and Pan Ams, and maybe a little bit before that. That is where my answer comes from. I think that has to be a piece of the puzzle for where I’m at.
5PM: Let’s say that you have some athletes who are brand-new to full-time Greco. How do you maintain their competitiveness, and prioritize that competitiveness, despite them being in a developmental environment?
Christenson: I think that one of the big advantages is that we have budgeted one trip overseas right now. But this summer, we are going to have a camp, from June 22nd to the 28th and we’re bringing in three foreign teams. We are looking at France, Hungary, and Romania. Those are the three we’re in contact with right now. One of the things that we’re going to try to do is bring the foreigners here. Our costs to host them on campus are quite a bit less than the OTC, so that is one of the things I’m thinking right now. We’re going to try to bring that international competition onto American soil, and that works with our college model, as well. And we will use the foreign model of having a competition and then a camp. Obviously, we’ll have the competition first so that everyone is willing to work together as soon as that’s over with. Plus, I don’t think it is a bad idea for our guys to wrestle in college opens. There are tons of those around, we have our own home open, and they can do that just to keep their competitiveness going until more schools adopt (Greco-Roman). Obviously, we’re also talking about the ability to go to Dubuque and wrestle in their RTC duals and maybe setting up some duals with Northern.
But it’s a definite concern because we are not used to in our country the international training model of competing less until we get to the Senior level. I think that part of it is going to be is if I can get the kids to trust me, and for them to trust me to know what the right balance is. That’s a lot of what coaching is, developing that trust between coach and athlete. We’re going to try to put kids in the best situation we can, and I am going to try to make the best decisions for them I can. We may have some kids who are ready to go to NYAC (Bill Farrell Memorial, scheduled for November) and we may have some kids who should stay home. Things like that. It’s a delicate balance, for sure.
5PM: In a room full of young athletes who are very concerned about making sure that they are applying new techniques correctly, how do you go about ensuring that they still keep a hardcore competitive disposition?
Christenson: I think that you have to have competition in everything you do. It can even be game-like. For instance, pummel-match situations where guys aren’t going to get hurt as much. Maybe there is not going to be that big throw to finish it out, but it’s the first contact, the off-balancing, and the fighting for control, or for position, or to gain a control tie, or whatever you want to call it. Or fight for the best position. Things like that. Bringing that competitiveness to conditioning. Obviously, you’ve also got the live portion of matches.
We do spend a whole lot of time in the sport of wrestling getting ourselves into position to score. When you start to break down the amount of time that you’re actually involved in the scoring action of the move — besides the setup part of the technique, or the off-balance — I think that you put kids in situations where someone is trying to score. Making a guy start with double underhooks whereas the other guy has double overhooks, or whatever the case might be. Or both guys are clinched, or you have the other guy in a lift at that point in time… Those positions in which points are definitely going to happen will heighten some awareness and introduce a little bit of pressure. No one likes to get thrown. It becomes really competitive in the practice room at that point in time. Competition is good and it has to be part of the practice, part of the process.
5PM: You are an extremely accomplished coach, you have developed excellent wrestlers, and are a team-builder. For this new chapter in your coaching career upon which you are embarking, what are you most excited about?
Jason Christenson: The biggest thing that I am excited about is building those relationships again, and it is really the challenge. I know where Greco is in this country right now and I think we have a ton of potential. I think the excitement is in helping it get there. I don’t view this as though I’m in competition with Andy (Bisek) at Northern, or with the OPTC, or with any of those RTC’s. It is simply that I am excited to be able to give kids the opportunity to set themselves up in the future to be successful in their everyday lives. That may be in Greco-Roman wrestling, or it may be in their jobs and careers. It may be as fathers and family members, or as civic leaders. That’s what has me excited, just the impact that you can make as a coach. I honestly missed that in my time away trying to be a dad and following my kid. That’s the biggest thing, the impact you can have on people, and that is what I am most excited about.
My passion has always been for Greco-Roman wrestling. It was my best style as an athlete and it was what I enjoyed coaching the most. Just to be able to put that together at this juncture has me really excited and I can’t wait to see how things progress once we get these kids on campus and get to work.
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