Committed, intense and successful are just a few things that would describe my wrestling coach—as well as a science teacher. As a third year wrestler, I did not expect to learn as much as I did over those three years.

Starting my sophomore year, I did not know what to expect when I stepped into the wrestling room for the first time. But then I met my coach, Mr. John Mesenbrink, I knew I would like him because of his humor, his intensity, and his dedication to the sport of wrestling.

The attitude of Mr. Mesenbrink is unique. Being on a wrestling team (that is ranked number two in the state) we did not face many tough dual meets in our conference. But Mr. Mesenbrink went into each and every practice with an attitude that this was going to be our toughest competition. With Mr. Mesenbrink having this as his mindset, we wrestlers had an approach of the same mentality.

Being a teacher, he has tons of other things to do, including grading papers, tests and quizzes, but he always finds time to coach his favorite sport of wrestling. In all 13 years of coaching at Arrowhead, Mr. Mesenbrink has missed only four days of practice and competition.

Coaching at Arrowhead High School for 13 years he has made several accomplishments to make him one of the best coaches in Wisconsin, including six team state tournaments, one of which coming this year in his final year as a wrestling coach at Arrowhead. He has coached a total of 81 state qualifiers, 39 state place winners, 7 runner-ups and 9 champions.

Out of all the coaches and teachers I have worked with, there is only one that stands ou: My wrestling coach John Mesenbrink. I expected him to be just like every other coach that I have had, but after the first week of practice my sophomore year, I knew wrestling was going to be one of the toughest yet most rewarding things I have ever encountered. And having an excellent coach running practices made it all worth it.

Through my three years as a wrestler, I gained stamina, determination to do my best and, most importantly, confidence in everything I do. All of the things I learned from Mr. Mesenbrink makes me nominate him for this award.