We are thrilled to introduce Jess Messner as the next head girl’s wrestling coach at Madras High School. Jess has been around wrestling ever since he was born. His dad, Wendell Messner, was the coach for the North Bend Wrestling Club.
“Ever since I could walk, I was wrestling,” he said. “I had two older brothers who wrestled, and I just have never known anything different. All I’ve ever done was wrestle.”
Messner is more than excited to be the next head coach for MHS Girl’s Wrestling. He wants to have the same impact on our students that his past coaches had on him. One being his father and another coach being Dave Abraham.
“He’s a National Hall of Fame wrestling coach. He definitely had a huge impact on the lives of the wrestlers that he touched,” he said. “My dad did too and that really is where my passion comes from and that’s why I want to be here.”
The White Buffalos Girls Wrestling season is nearly here. Messner is focused on building this program into an contender for years to come. The first step to turning that into a reality though is to get more girls to come out for wrestling, starting this year.
“There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be the most talented team in the state. I think as far as goals, short term goals, getting 20 girls in the mat room every day. With that we’re going to be competitive with anybody,” he said.
Messner has been around the sport his entire life, and that includes coaching at different levels. When he was in high school, he would help coach wrestling teams with elementary age students. When he entered college, he coached at Central High School in Independence, Oregon. He’s also worked on coaching his kids. He’s excited to take that coaching experience and apply it to coaching a successful program at Madras High.
“I think having a steady coach that’s passionate about girls wrestling is going to have a big impact,” he said. “I think our numbers are going to grow real fast as they start seeing the success of the people that we have. I’m very excited about the process.”
In his free time, Messner loves spending time with his family. He has three kids and they are the center of his life. He’s also a tournament bass fisherman and loves spending the day out on a lake with one of his sons, Dash. Messner is also bilingual, speaking Spanish as well as English.
“We’re fishing most weekends in the summertime, and that’s basically what all my free time is devoted to. My kids and fishing, which is a lot of fun,” he said.