2020 Minnesota Chapter-National Wrestling Hall of Fame Honoree Mark Jensen attended Brainerd high School where he competed in 3 different sports. He is a member of both the "Brainerd High School Hall of Fame" and the Brainerd High School Wrestling Hall of Fame. Jensen went on to compete at Concordia College in wrestling and football. He continued his athletic success there, where he was inducted into the Concordia Athletic Hall of Fame, both as an individual and with his 1978 football team. Mark played wide receiver on the 1978 National Championship football team. In wrestling he was a two-time DIII All-American, placing 2nd and 5th in the national tournament. The year he took 2nd he was actually leading his opponent, when he got Granby rolled. This served as a motivation for Mark in teaching the Granby Roll to his future teams. As a wrestler at Concordia College Mark won the Luther College Tournament as a Freshman in 1976. He was twice voted "Outstanding Wrestler" of the North Country Tournament, and in 1978 was named the MIAC's "Outstanding Wrestler." He finished his college career at Concordia with an overall career record of 106-21-1. After graduating Mark started his teaching and coaching career at Howard Lake-Waverly, where coached football, wrestling and baseball. In 1981 he married and relocated to the Brainerd/Nisswa area. During this time he helped out with the Brainerd wrestling program. In 1987 started teaching physical education in the Pierz School District. Mark helped his wife, Karla, start the girls tennis program there in 1993 and they coached together for 20 plus years. He was voted Assistant Tennis "Coach of the Year" in 2006 and Section 7A "head Coach of the Year" in 2010. Pierz Wrestling is Mark's passion. He served as Head Wrestling Coach for 21 years, qualifying 162 individuals to State and producing 9 State Champions, 8 Runner-Ups, 8 3rds, and 27 4th -6 th place-winners. However, Mark was always most proud of his teams success. He coached 14 teams to State . Two of those teams won State Titles in 2004 and 2005. A 3rd place finish and consolation titles highlighted the other years. His last year in 2017 his team finished runner-ups, along with some great individual performances. A sweet end to his coaching career! Mark has been honored with numerous Conference and Section "Coach of the Year" honors. He was selected Minnesota "Coach of the Year" in 2005. He was also named Minnesota's Coaches selection for the NWCA "National Coach of the Year" Honor. In 2018 he was inducted in the Dave Bartelma- Minnesota Wrestling Hall of Fame. It was even more memorable due to the fact his father, Mervin, was also inducted that same year. Mark's over coaching record at Pierz was 377-112-2. Mark has always said his awards are because of the great support team surrounding him in the "Pierz Wrestling Family." They have always been there for him and he feels blessed to be part of it. His team of Assistant Coaches have been second to none, and he has been fortunate to have hard working, talented athletes who will always be "his boys." Mark is married to Karla (Reimer) and they taught and coached together for a number of years. They 4 daughters in Kristine (Tyler Gehrmann), Kaley (Joe Kahl), Kaitlyn (Jon Ledeboer) and Kaari (Matt Epperly), and the recent love of their life in their granddaughter Harper. Mark retired from Pierz in 2017 and is now a busy working house construction in the Brainerd/Nisswa area. Congratulations to 2020 Minnesota Chapter-National Wrestling Hall of Fame Honoree Mark Jensen.