Jessica Pelzel took an already highly-successful Madison College women’s basketball program to the top of the mountain. And in doing so, she achieved greatness and impacted countless lives.
Jessica came to Madison College ahead of the 2006-07 school year and was hired as a full-time physical education instructor and a women’s basketball coach. She brought two years of experience as an assistant coach into her first head coaching gig, but inherited a program that had won 32 games and made back-to-back appearances at the NJCAA Division III National Tournament. With seven freshmen and one sophomore, the WolfPack went 13-12 in her debut season, but did win the program’s fifth consecutive WTCC title. Year two brought marked improvement with 25 wins and championships in the WTCC and WJCAA. Madison College also won the Region 13 crown to return to the national tournament, where they would finish fourth. The upward trajectory continued in 2009 as the Pack again took the trifecta of conference, state, and region banners en route to the national tourney. After wins over Camden County and Monroe, the WolfPack was playing for a national title against Rochester Community & Technical College on their home floor. Despite a loss, Madison College knew it was on the doorstep of greatness.
The 2010 season will be remembered at Madison College for many reasons. Now part of the North Central Community College Conference and Region 4, the WolfPack opened with a ten-game win streak and then closed with wins in 13 consecutive games, including a Region 4 championship over Milwaukee Tech to qualify for a third straight national tournament. The WolfPack was the class of the tournament in Rochester, dominating Westchester, Brookdale, and Onondaga by an average margin of victory of 21 points to win not only the program’s first national championship, but also the first women’s national title at Madison College. Their 31-3 final record marked the third time in school history with 30 or more wins.
Jessica’s program remained highly competitive over the next six seasons, averaging better than 19 wins a season and culminating in a Region 4 championship in 2016, a season that saw the WolfPack return to the #1 spot in the national polls for nine weeks. Jessica left Madison College after ten seasons with 211 wins, the second most in program history, and a .694 win percentage. She led the WolfPack to one national championship, four region crowns, four conference titles, and two state championships. She was rewarded with four region coach of the year honors and two WJCAA Coach of the Year accolades. Jessica coached five NJCAA All-Americans, ten all-region recipients, and 23 all-conference selections, to go along with one NJCAA Tournament Most Valuable Player, three NJCAA All-Tournament honorees, and two Region 4 Tournament MVP’s. Her time at Madison College also included a brief stint as the head softball coach, leading the WolfPack to 14 wins over a one-and-a-half seasons. Those years yielded three all-region selections and two all-conference picks.
"I enjoyed working with Jess and watching her son grow up in our gym,” said current Madison College Director of Athletics Jason Verhelst. “Not only is she a successful basketball coach, she is more importantly, a great person. Jess has always been an ambassador for women's basketball and for Madison College, even as an AD at Anoka-Ramsey. Proud to have her in our Madison College Athletics Hall of Fame!"
After Madison College, Jessica returned to her home state of Minnesota to help coach at Anoka-Ramsey Community College. After six years as an assistant, she became the head coach in 2021 for one season and was then hired as the Director of Athletics in 2022. She currently lives in Elk River, Minnesota, with her wife, Ann, and their son, Keaton. In her free time, she enjoys golfing and watching Keaton play sports.
When asked about her time at Madison College, Jessica said,
“I’m grateful for the opportunity Steve Hauser gave me when he took a chance and hired me. He gave me the opportunity to prove myself and there are no words to explain how much that meant. It has always been about the student-athletes, as without them I would not be where I am today or been able to accomplish all we did. Seeing them succeed now as adults, parents, and/or partners makes me more proud than anything we accomplished on the court.”
