Only a decade removed from his graduation, Tristan James Hansen ’01 is being inducted this year into the Jesuit Sports Hall of Fame for his standout career as a high school wrestler. At a mere 29 years of age, Hansen becomes one of the youngest inductees ever.
Tristan, who goes by T. J., is the son of Bob Hansen, who wrestled at Cornell University, and Leslie Hansen. Born on September 1, 1982, he has one older brother, Trey. T. J. graduated from Jesuit College Preparatory in May 2001, picking up his bachelors degree at the University of Missouri and his Masters in Business Administration (MBA) at Old Dominion.
Hansen competed in wrestling for all four years of his high school career. Since then, he has received a multitude of awards for his current job as head wrestling coach at Coppell Middle School. T. J. has stayed extremely active within his community, exemplifying the service aspect of the Profile of the Jesuit Graduate.
“I was surprised to find out I had been chosen as an inductee into the Hall of Fame,” said Hansen in an interview. “I did not
realize all of the hard work that [my former wrestling coaches] had been doing behind my back. I am very appreciative of the work they had done, seeing how this is where I am today.”
As a freshman, Hansen received his first of four varsity letters in wrestling. Then, as a sophomore, he received the Outstanding Wrestler Award as well as a 1999 Second Team All-Area nomination. Hansen received most of his awards during his junior and senior years at Jesuit. As team captain during his senior year, he led the wrestling team to many great victories in the 2000-2001 season.
T. J. was named a “Best in Their Sport” winner by The Dallas Morning News and brought home MVP honors in both his junior and senior years. He placed in the top ten at the Prep All-American competition, a nationwide competition for all private schools in the country, as well as at the Texas Individual State Champion during his sophomore, junior, and senior years. Hansen is the current Jesuit record holder for the most “takedowns” in his high school career.
After a great four years at Jesuit Dallas, Hansen went on to the University of Missouri. He was a three-year-letterman at UMO. His team was ranked in the top ten nationally. On an individual basis, he received the Lathrop and Gage Student Athlete of the Week Award in 2005 and was also a part of the Big Twelve Commissioner’s Honor Roll five out of eight semesters. Then, Hansen went to Old Dominion in Norfolk, Virginia, for two years of Graduate School. However, he was only eligible to wrestle for one year.
Looking back upon all of the awards he has won in past years, T. J. noted that it has been “a humbling experience.” Though Hansen decided not to wrestle professionally, he enjoys watching his friends from UMO compete on television. “It has been cool to have been able to see the evolution of wrestling throughout the years, even if I was not present for those memorable events.”
Within the community, Hansen volunteers at the NCAA YES Clinic, a workshop dedicated to educating youths through sports and other physical activities. At ODU, Hansen was a student-coach for his final year of Graduate School and then became the Director of Wrestling Operations. From 2007-2009, he volunteered at the Carrollton Stars Wrestling Club. Since then, he has been working at the Coppell Cowboy Wrestling Club, making sure that he helps everyone within the North Texas community.
Since 2009, Hansen has been working as the head wrestling coach at Coppell Middle School. Alumni and faculty from Jesuit, Old Dominion and the University of Missouri alike have all said great things about T. J. and his dedication. Hansen truly personifies the service-minded student athlete.
“I cannot say enough about T. J.’s character. His work ethic is tremendous. He gives a new meaning to the word selfless. Tristan Hansen would be a phenomenal choice to represent Jesuit’s Hall of Fame,” said Lee Pritts, assistant wrestling coach at North Carolina State University and a coach of Hansen’s at UMO.
Since freshman year, T. J. has stayed close friends with Shane Kelly, also a 2001 graduate of Jesuit. Remarking on his close friendship with Kelly,
T. J. remembered, “During our first year at Jesuit, we played on the baseball team together. Later in the year, I talked Shane into joining the wrestling team and that has been our link together ever since.”
Shane Kelly, currently studying for his PhD in Microbiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said: “T. J. was the most diligent and hardest worker. He would always drill the people close to his weight class. T. J. led by example, putting in the time and would never complain about workouts. After the workouts with the coach and the team, he would do another two-hour workout. He was always able to find the time to improve himself in everything, especially his wrestling career.”
Congratulations to Mr. Tristan James Hansen on this prestigious award and honor!
Jesuit Sports Hall of Fame Inductee Jerry Taliaferro ’63
Jesuit Sports Hall of Fame Inductee: John Murphy ’70
Jesuit Sports Hall of Fame Inductee: Adrian Winnubst ’81
Jesuit Sports Hall of Fame Inductee: T. J. Hansen ’01
Pat Schnitzius ’45 Grabs John F. Campbell Fan of the Year Honor
Gold R anger Award Winner – Mike Boeding ’60
Rev. Philip Postell Distinguished Service Award: John Schmeltz ’74
