Chayse Jackson in his fifth season as head coach at Southwest Minnesota State in 2025-26 after being named the fifth coach in the program history on July 15, 2021.
During his first season in 2021-22, Jackson guided the Mustangs to a 2-6 record, including a win over Minnesota State for the first time since 2014 and second since 1990. The Mustangs were lead by All-NSIC first team member Caden Steffen, who won just the third region title in the program's Division II history, and placed sixth at the NCAA Championships, earning All-American status for the second consecutive year.
Barb Marx (photo credit)
In 2022-23, SMSU started the season strong and was ranked as high as No. 22 nationally, while both Steffen (184) and Jacob Dykes (HWT) were ranked among the top 10 nationally. Steffen racked up a record of 16-2, but suffered an injury in January and was not able to defend his region title.
In 2023-24, SMSU went 4-7 overall and 2-7 in conference action with victories over MSU Moorhead (30-8) and Sioux Falls (30-20). SMSU placed four student-athletes at the Super Region V tournament. Carlo Arreola (125), Adam Sylvester (184), and Jacob Dykes (285) all finished in 6th place, while Caden Steffen (197) earned second place and punched his ticket to the 2024 National Championships. The Mustangs finished the Super Region V tournament in seventh place.
During the 2023-24 academic year, the SMSU wrestling team posted a GPA of 3.21, ranking No. 21 in the country. Five wrestling student-athletes were named NWCA Division II Scholar All-Americans.
Off the mat, the SMSU program had tremendous success in 2022-23, ranking No. 19 in the country in GPA, while three student-athletes, Nye Becker, Sean Howk and Jace Paplow were each named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team. The three were also named to the NWCA Scholar All-American team.
In 2024-25, SMSU continued its strong schedule competing at the Midwest Classic in Indianapolis, while also hosting a five-team dual tournament inside the PE Gym. Arreola was SMSU's lone place winner at the Super Region V tournament earning sixth at 125.
Jackson arrived to SMSU after serving the three seasons as an assistant coach at Minot State University. Jackson helped Minot State make significant improvements during his three-year tenure. In 2019-20, MSU recorded a Division II era record six dual wins, as well as victories over three Top 25 programs. The team also received its first-ever Division II national ranking. During his first year on staff in 2018-19, the Beavers had three NWCA Scholar All-Americans, four Super Region V place-winners and a school-record two national qualifiers.
MSU had seven NWCA Scholar All-Americans and 24 Academic All-NSIC honorees during Jackson’s three seasons on staff.
Prior to joining the staff at Minot State, Jackson spent two seasons as a graduate assistant coach at the University of Dubuque (2016-18) and one season as a volunteer assistant coach at Grand Canyon University (2015-16).
Jackson was a five-year member (2011-16) and two-time team captain for the Grand Canyon University wrestling program. He suffered a season-ending injury during his senior season and moved to the coaching ranks.
Jackson is 2015 graduate of Grand Canyon University with a degree in biology & pre-med with a minor in coaching. He earned his MBA at the University of Dubuque in 2018 and also a master’s degree in sports management at Minot State in 2020.
Chayse and his wife, Jenna, an assistant athletic trainer at SMSU, live in Marshall.
Chayse Jackson Year-by-Year at SMSU
| Year |
School |
Overall |
NSIC |
NSIC Finish |
| 2021-22 |
SMSU |
2-6 |
2-6 |
8th |
| 2022-23 |
SMSU |
1-8 |
1-8 |
9th |
| 2023-24 |
SMSU |
4-7 |
2-7 |
8th |
| 2024-25 |
SMSU |
3-12 |
0-9 |
9th |
| Total |
4 seasons |
10-33 |
5-19 |
|
Jackson at SMSU
• 2 NCAA national qualifiers
• 1 NCAA All-American
• 2 All-NSIC first team
• 6 Mustangs named NSIC Wrestler of the Week
• 10 NWCA Scholar All-Americans
• 24 Academic All-NSIC
Jackson Resume
- 2021-25, SMSU, Head Coach
- 2018-21, Minot State, Assistant Coach
- 2016-18, University of Dubuque, Graduate Assistant
- 2015-16, Grand Canyon University, Volunteer Assistant
