Staff

Since 1978, J Robinson Intensive Camps has operated on the principle that strong, consistent leadership is the key to maintaining our superior standard of excellence in wrestling training. J Robinson has led each and every Intensive Camp for the past 40 years, living in the dormitories along with the wrestlers and actively engaging with the athletes each day. J and other senior staff at our Intensive Camps are supported by wrestling counselors that we hire from college wrestling teams across the country, including many from NCAA Division I programs. In their roles, they oversee the wrestling and cross-training during each practice. Counselors watch the wrestlers train and actively participate by offering motivation, corrections, and advice whenever possible. We maintain a camper to staff ratio of 10:1 or better at all times, meaning that each wrestler at camp receives a great amount of individual attention during camp.

Camp Leadership

J Robinson
Founder and Co-Owner

After founding JROB Intensive Camps in 1978, J has presided over the steady growth of what has become the largest wrestling camp system in America. J lives on-site in the dorms with the wrestlers at each Intensive Camp, making his wealth of wrestling knowledge available to nearly 1,000 high school wrestlers each summer. He speaks to them after almost every practice on topics such as leadership, work ethic, overcoming adversity, mental attitude, money management, and much more, all while overseeing and evaluating the overall training strategy and structure and making any necessary adjustments. J’s passion for working with young athletes has led him to spend 2,474 days (about 7 years of his life) living in college dormitories with high school wrestlers.

After wrestling collegiately at Oklahoma State University, J became a wrestling coach and has now trained athletes for 40 years as an assistant coach for 4 United States Olympic teams (1976-1988), an assistant coach at the University of Iowa (1976-1984), and the head coach at the University of Minnesota (1986-2016) where he led the Gophers to 3 NCAA National Championships. He is also a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, a 1972 United States Olympian, and a Vietnam veteran as an Army Airborne Ranger.

Garret Garness
Managing Director

Garret became the Director of Wrestling Operations for JROB Intensive Camps in November of 2015. In his role, he directs all aspects of pre-camp planning for all camps, as well as on-site operations at our Intensive Camps, including overseeing safety protocol, daily schedule and workout planning, staff and counselor management, and external communications.

Throughout his high school wrestling career Garret was a Minnesota State Champion, 3X state finalist, and amassed 221 career wins. He went on to wrestle at the NCAA D1 Ohio University where he became a 2X letter-winner. Garret graduated from Ohio University in 2014 with a degree in Sports Management.

Jake Kettler
Director of Wrestling Operations

Jake Kettler joined JROB Intensive Camps in April of 2018 after spending 3 years as the Head Assistant Coach at Minot State University in North Dakota. While at Minot State, Kettler coached fellow heavyweight Mitchell Eull who became MSU's first ever All-American.

Kettler is a high school state champion in Minnesota and a 2X NCAA DI Championships qualifier for George Mason University, where he transfered after spending his first three years as a Minnesota Gopher. He is also a 5X senior Greco-Roman All American.

Kettler attended the 28-Day Intensive Camp in 2006 and has worked 7 years at JROB as a counselor and group leader.

Mike McGivern
Senior Staff Director

Mike has been a member of the JROB Intensive Camps staff for 39 out of our 40 years, beginning in 1978. At camp, Mike is responsible for tracking camper points and leading a wrestling group. Mike has been, and continues to be, instrumental in upholding a high standard of wrestling training at camp. An All-American wrestler at the University of Iowa in the late 1970s, he went on to coach one of the most successful high school programs in Iowa, Des Moines Lincoln High School, for 27 years.

Eddie "Woody" Woodburn
Senior Staff and Group Leader

“Woody” has been a senior staff member and group leader at JROB Intensive Camps for 18 years. He plays an essential role in motivating the campers both mentally and physically and does an excellent job on connecting to high school athletes. He gives many motivational speeches throughout camp on the power of hard work and dedication, and he also is one of our most outspoken staff members during practices, raising the intensity of the entire gym with his passion and energy. Woody is an NCAA All-American wrestler from Oklahoma State University and has been a high school head wrestling coach in the state of Oklahoma for 27 years.

Intensive Camp Directors

Eustice Ty Eustice
Iowa Intensive Camp Director

Ty Eustice is a four-time Minnesota State High School Champion, and two-time All-American and placing second in the NCAA Championships while at the University of Iowa. Following his college career, Ty coached at Iowa Lakes Community College, Cornell College and currently is the assistant wrestling coach at Minnesota State Mankato.

Coach Eustice has served as a Camp Director, Director of Wrestling Operations and Executive Director with JROB Camps during the past seven years. Ty was instrumental in running camp operations and leading the company in new wrestling initiatives, such as the JROB Competition Camp..

Roberts Kevin Roberts
Pennsylvania Intensive Camp Director

For more than 20 years, Kevin has dedicated his life to help athletes realize their potential. During his coaching career, he has trained numerous University National Freestyle Champions and All-Americans while at North Idaho College, the University of Minnesota and, most notably, Oregon State University. In 11 years at Oregon State, Roberts helped guide the wrestling program to win five conference championships and two second place finishes.

In his formative years, Kevin was a High School State Champion, and a two-time All American and three-time captain with University of Oregon.

5-Day Camp Directors

Bruhn Brad Bruhn
Georgia Technique Camp Director
Kansas Technique Camp Director

Brad is the head wrestling coach of SUNY Cortland in Cortland, New York and has been running JROB Technique Camps for 5 years.

Kevin LeValley
Georgia Competition Camp Director
California Competition Camp Director

Kevin is currently an assistant coach at his alma mater, Bucknell, where he was a 2X All-American as a wrestler. We are excited for him to lead two of our Competition Camps in 2017!

Pfarr Kroells Joel Skillings
Washington Technique Camp Directors

Joel Skillings has been coaching high school wrestling in Minnesota for more than 28 years and has amassed over 500 career coaching wins, 1 State Team Title, and coached 7 Individual State Champs. For his dedication, Coach Skillings was named the Head Coach of the Year in 2015 by the National Wrestling Coaches Association and has also served as a Co-Head Coach to the Minnesota USA Jr. National Team.

Office Staff

Sue Sue Rubens
Co-Owner and Brand Manager

J and Sue were married in 2000 after meeting at the University of Minnesota Athletic Department where Sue worked in the Marketing department for 8 years in various capacities from the Athletic Ticket Office to Group Sales and Special Events. Now a consultant with a keen passion for sports, Sue’s professional background includes the 2001 NCAA Final Four Committee/Chair of Volunteers, 2004 NHL All-Star Game Location Manager, Inaugural U.S. Pond Hockey Championships Director and managing many notable Twin Cities events.

With her extensive experience in event planning, brand management and marketing communications, Sue uses her wealth of knowledge with JROB Intensive Camps to oversee the overall health and quality of our business strategy and external communications. Sue’s lifelong passion for the outdoors and sports has merged by competing in marathons and triathlons over the past 20 years.

Broc Fulmer
Marketing Manager

Broc is responsible for the creation, planning, and execution of all marketing, communications, and content production strategies and initiatives. This includes general brand management and creative planning, as well as graphic design, social media content strategy and community management. He strives to deliver motivating and informative content that advances the JROB Mission.

Ryan Ryan Leer
Creative Director

Ryan joined JROB Intensive Camps in 2011. His responsibilities as Creative Director include conceptualizing, filming, and editing commercials and company videos. He also handles photo and graphic design duties. Ryan spends his summer on the road with the camps capturing what it is like to be an Intensive Camper. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Superior with a degree in Video Production in 2010 and grew up in Minnesota, which contributed to his preference to film certain workouts on Rollerblades.

Carsen Groth
Customer Service Coordinator

Carsen is responsible for interacting with potential and current campers, and their families to provide and process information in response to inquiries, concerns and requests about our camps. She also manages all aspects of our online camper registration database, assists with pre-camp preparations and on-site logistics.

Carsen has a special attachment to JROB Camps. Her father, Jay, attended a JROB Intensive Camp while he was in high school. He has since moved on to be a successful coach recently earning his 300th win. As the daughter of a wrestling coach, Carsen is deeply rooted in the wrestling community, understands its needs and works hard to make the JROB experience the best it can be for everyone involved.

Jordan Jordan Bierschenk
Business Operations Manager

As J’s daughter, Jordan grew up at the Intensive Camps, whether helping at the camp store, tracking points for the I DID IT shirt or just filling in wherever needed. After earning a business degree from the University of Iowa, Jordan took on a full-time position as the Business and Merchandise Manager for the Intensive Camps. Now with 3 young kids at home, Jordan continues to be involved with the merchandising division of camps in overseeing designs for the camp shirts, camp store products, and other wrestling gear.

Tom Tom Harris
Print Shop Manager

As the print shop manager, Tom is responsible for production of all JROB Wrestling Camps apparel and merchandise. He also contributes as an artist and graphic designer for apparel designs.