INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, MN — A Solon graduate and veteran of the Spartan gridiron has led his own Spartans to a Minnesota State Football Championship and earned recognition from the Minnesota Vikings as their high school Coach of the Year.
Mensen (’05) played for Coach Kevin Miller (who retired in 2020 after 19 seasons) in the ’02-’04 seasons including the ’03 State Championship game against Emmetsburg, which saw the Spartans fall 24-21.
“It was an amazing season, and I bring a lot of that experience with me in what I do today,” he said. “Coach Miller was and is a tremendous inspiration in the ideals I try to instill on my program. I believe in hard work and character development in young men, which is very much what I learned playing at Solon.” While at Solon he earned a dozen athletic letters in four sports.
He attended the University of Minnesota graduating in 2009 with a bachelor’s in child psychology and a minor in chemistry. He also played for the Gophers where he was named to the Academic All-Big Ten in 2008 and 2009. Currently he is a 9th grade physical science teacher at Simley High School in Inver Grove Heights, MN, a suburb of Minneapolis-St. Paul. He’s been a teacher for nine years and was a paraprofessional for three years before that. In addition, he’s been a coach for the Simley Spartans for a dozen years with eight as an offensive coordinator and four as the head coach. Under Mensen (33-9 record) the Spartans have made the Minnesota State Tournament three out of the four years with the 2020 season being cancelled before the playoffs began.
The coach talked about the 2022 season, and Class 4A championship campaign.
“We went into this season with some very high expectations as we brought back a lot of weapons from the previous year, we knew we had a lot of tools in place but needed some major pieces to fall into place in order to make a run. We started the season off with major victories over section (like Iowa’s districts) rivals, South St. Paul and Hill Murray. We rattled off six wins in a row, which included four games in which opponents scored one time or less. Going into week 7 we had an opportunity to win the first conference championship since 2009 but we weren’t able to keep up with the 2021 runner-up in 5A, Mahtomedi. The loss served to galvanize us and forced us to take a hard look at how we approached run-first teams. We made some simple adjustments on defense, and it proved to be the tipping point in our run to State. In the section playoffs, we played rivals South St. Paul and Hill Murray once again. In the section championship game, we were faced with a 12-7 deficit at halftime but came out on fire and scored the next 33 points in a row to win 40-12 and earn a trip to State.”
The Spartans put up the first 46 points and cruised to a 46-14 win over Chisago Lakes earning a trip to the semifinals at US Bank Stadium against the 2019 State champion, ROCORI (Rockville, Cold Spring, and Richmond) High School (Cold Spring, MN).
“The semifinal game was a slugfest in the first half with both teams trading touchdowns,” he recalled. “At half we trailed 14-16, the difference being two two-point conversions by ROCORI. In the second half we held their offense to under 50 total yards and sealed the game with a 33-yard field goal with 5:22 left. In that game our offense outgained ROCORI 378-124.”
Simley faced Hutchinson (“Hutch”) in the championship game, a rematch of their 2021 quarterfinals loss.
“Hutch was the defending 4A State Champion and the overwhelming favorites to repeat. The game started off again with each team trading touchdowns and Hutch building a 16-6 lead midway through the 2nd quarter. We were able to score on a 44-yard run by our quarterback, Caden Renslow, with 3:05 left in the first half. An interception in the endzone brought the halftime score to 13-16 Hutch. In the second half we took a 20-16 lead before Hutch was able to regain the lead 24-20. With 3:10 left, we scored the final go-ahead TD and sealed the game with a pick 6.”
For Mensen, the feeling of being a State Champion is unlike any other.
“I’ve been a part of two other state championship games, in 2003 as a player and in 2014 as an assistant coach with Simley. Both games came up short and to finally finish the job is absolutely amazing. I spoke with Coach Miller through email in the weeks leading up to the championship game and he helped to keep me grounded and focused on the task at hand. I’m thankful for the time I had at Solon, and the amazing coaches that I had the privilege to learn from.”
During the high school football season, the Minnesota Vikings honor a high school coach of the week based on their contribution on the football field, but more importantly on the impact they make within their community and on their student-athletes. The coaches not only receive recognition in local media, but their football program also receives a $1,000 donation on behalf of the Vikings. Mensen was named Coach of the Year for striving to “develop phenomenal young men through hard work and toughness while pursuing excellence in the classroom, on the field of competition, and in the community,” according to the Viking’s website (www.vikings.com/community/high-school-football/coach-of-the-week).
“It was such an amazing season, and I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that I was named Coach of the Year by the Vikings,” he said. “I’ve read about several coaches over the years to win this award and to be on the same level is very humbling.”

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Contributed Photo

The 2022 Minnesota Class 4A State Champion Simley HS Spartans, led by Solon alumni Chris Mensen, pose on the field at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.