LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

John Mesenbrink was nominated by an anonymous student.

"I walked into Askren Wrestling Academy with my dad. I was a little nervous as I didn't know what to expect," said the student. "Walking in and seeing the big black mat with red lines and not knowing anyone was a little frightening. Most of the kids already knew each other, and some were new."

"As time got closer to practice, the coach brought us in and introduced himself, 'Hello guys, I'm Coach Mesenbrink.' With him was a bigger guy named Coach Diel. Coach Mesenbrink explained and introduced how wrestling is, what we'd be doing, and how he would run practices," said the student.
 
"Coach Mesenbrink gave us a band bracelet which is like a ranking system of your improvement, technique, or hard work. I remember the first move shown and that I practiced was the 'quad pod.' Coach Mesenbrink demonstrated it in little segments such as 'boom, bang, pow,' and with a shield which is your arm sealing out anything from getting inside you. Not knowing a thing about wrestling or any moves beforehand, I was catching on quickly and learning lots of new stuff," said the student.

"Since Ben Askren was still doing MMA at the time and traveling a lot, Coach Mesenbrink was left to coach. He was the main coach at AWA and always coached me for all my years there," said the student. "Since being at AWA, Coach Mesenbrink has done so much for me and invested so much of his time to help me become a better wrestler and person. He is also a high school teacher and goes from teaching high school to coaching practice. Coach Mesenbrink is full of selflessness, and it shows. Most nights, he's not even at home with his family but coaching and helping other kids of all ages when he could easily go home resting after a day of teaching. His patience and persistence are fantastic as he deals with many kids all day and night."

"He has helped me exceptionally and has improved my wrestling tremendously," said the student. "It's like he knows everything to fix or make a move better. I don't know anyone whose mind is better in wrestling. It's truly great."

"He's the best coach I've ever had with his passion for the sport and his athletes," said the student. "He cares for them and will help anyone who wants to be great. Something that has also stuck with me that he has taught me is that the little things matter. The difference between being good and great at something is the little things you do, as in life. He's strengthened my mindset, and I've become more mentally tough because of him. I wouldn't be where I am today without Coach Mesenbrink."