Bio

Jason Christenson was named the first Head Coach for the Greco-Roman wrestling team in December 2024 with the inaugural season coming in Fall 2025.

Christenson has strong ties to Greco-Roman wrestling in Iowa, serving as a USA Wrestling Board of Directors At-Large member. He serves as a State Chairperson in Iowa and a USA Wrestling Junior Olympics committee member. He was also a U.S. Greco-Roman All-American during his competitive days.

Christenson wrestled collegiately at Central College in Iowa, qualifying for the NCAA Division III tournament. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in physical education with a minor in biology.

Following college he remained in Iowa and began teaching the sport of wrestling while serving as a physical education teacher at Collins-Maxwell-Baxter H.S. He moved on to Oskaloosa H.S. before settling in at Southeast Polk H.S. Christenson was a six-time Iowa Coach of the Year while winning five state dual championships and four tournament championships. When he stepped away from high school coaching in 2020, he had 482 dual meet victories, 186 individual state qualifiers, and 25 individual state champions.

Beyond the high school ranks, Christenson has been heavily involved in USA Wrestling. From 1996-2002, he served as the Iowa 16U/Junior National Greco-Roman team Head Coach. He was named the USA Wrestling National Development Coach of the Year in 2007. In 2013, he was named USA Wrestling team leader for the Junior World Championships in Bulgaria. In 2015, Christenson was the Greco-Roman Head Coach for the U.S. 17U Pan-Am Championships in Mexico.

Several of his high school wrestlers went on to earn honors, including 22 USA Wrestling National Championships, 85 USA Wrestling All-Americans, 45 Fargo All-Americans, and seven Fargo championships.

His legacy of coaching is decorated with honors. Christenson was named the inaugural winner of the Bob Siddens Iowa High School Coaching Excellence Award by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame (NWHOF) in 2013. At the same time, he was inducted into the Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame of Iowa. He received the Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award by the NWHOF in 2020. In 2014, he received the USA Wrestling “Chuck Elvin Award” for Junior Person of the Year. Christenson was inducted into the Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2024, Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2023, the Central College Hall of Honor in 2015, and the Southeast Polk H.S. Hall of Champions in 2013.