SMSU Athletics

nelsonje@southwestmsu.edu

507-537-7123

Jesse Nelson took over the head coaching duties for the Southwest Minnesota State wrestling team on Aug. 22, 2007, replacing John Sterner, who resigned in July.  Nelson comes to SMSU after five years as the head wrestling coach at Ridgewater College in Willmar, Minn.

A native of St. James, Minn., Nelson brings an impressive list of accomplishments to Southwest from his young career at the junior college level.  He guided Ridgewater College to top-five finishes nationally in each of his five seasons there.  Included was a national championship in 2004-05 and a second-place finish in 2003-04.

In addition to the team success, Nelson coached numerous student-athletes to individual success as well.  During his five years at Ridgewater, he coached 13 All-Americans, four national finalists and one national champion.

Nelson racked up many awards in his five years at Ridgewater.  He was named Minnesota Community College Conference Coach of the Year following each season and was named NJCAA Region XIII Coach of the Year in 2003 and 2004.

Nelson has also enjoyed success at the high school level as a coach, where he coached Greenbush-Middle River/Badger High School in Badger, Minn.  In one year at GMRB, he coached five state tournament place winners and two state champions.

He has a well-rounded background in coaching.  In addition to coaching wrestling at Ridgewater and GMRB, Nelson has coached freestyle wrestling and Minnesota Junior National Greco-Roman wrestling with Minnesota USA Wrestling.  He was also an assistant football coach at Ridgewater for five years.  At the high school level, he was a head fastpitch softball coach and a junior high and VFW baseball coach in the Montevideo (Minn.) School District.

Nelson is a 1999 graduate of St. Cloud State University, where he wrestled for one season and received his Bachelor of Science in physical education teaching with a minor in coaching.  He anticipates completing his Master’s degree from Minnesota State University, Mankato in sports administration.  Nelson also received an Associate of Arts degree from Willmar (now called Ridgewater) Community College in 1996 after wrestling for two season at WCC.  As a wrestler, he was an NJCAA national qualifier both years and was named Male Athlete of the Year at Willmar in 1996.  Nelson also played football for two years at WCC and was a team captain and earned all-conference honors.

Jesse and his wife, Julie, have an 8-year old son, Blake, and a six-year old daughter, Brooklyn.


Nelson's Awards
• 2003 NJCAA Region XIII Coach of the Year
• 2003 Minnesota Community College Conference
            Coach of the Year
• 2004 NJCAA Region XIII Coach of the Year
• 2004 Minnesota Community College Conference
            Coach of the Year
• 2005 Minnesota Community College Conference
            Coach of the Year
• 2006 Minnesota Community College Conference
            Coach of the Year
• 2007 Minnesota Community College Conference
            Coach of the Year

Nelson’s Accomplishments at Ridgewater
• 2002-03 Third-place NJCAA finish
• 2003-04 Second-place NJCAA finish
• 2004-05 NJCAA Champions
• 2005-06 Fifth-place NJCAA finish
• 2006-07 Fourth-place NJCAA finish

• 13 All-Americans
• 4 National finalists
• 1 National champion