Jeff ”Bro” Olsen – Roseau

Jeff “Bro” Olsen, the son of his late parents, Francis (Bob) and Marie (Fink) Olsen, was born in Minneapolis, along with his older sister Barb, older brother Rob, and younger sister Katie.

He attended Christ the King Catholic Grade School, where the nuns concluded that Bro did his best work when one of his ears was being twisted. He went on to attend Benilde High School from 1958-1962, where the Christian Brothers discovered that a good smack across the side of his head helped him concentrate.

As a sophomore, Olsen decided that he needed to go out for wrestling just to survive in this hard-knock world. That first season was a learning year, but as a junior, Bro made the varsity team at 112. He made quite a bit of progress, but his season ended in January when he broke his collarbone. Olsen wrestled at 120 as a senior and had a good season. He suffered his first and only loss of the year to a wrestler from DeLaSalle in the Catholic State Wrestling Tourney, but he came back to earn third-place honors. He credits wrestling with giving him confidence as a scrawny little guy in a big world.

After high school, Bro enrolled at Mankato State University, pursuing a Major in Political Science and a Minor in History. While he had wrestled for three years at Benilde High School for coach Jim Joranger, Olsen didn’t really have to think too long about “walking on” for the great Rummy Macias as Coach Macias already had a number of throwing dummies in the corner of the wrestling room.

In January 1965, he transferred to the University of Minnesota and, that fall, worked at the Triangle Bar while attending classes. By January 1966, his GPA had left the tracks and was heading for a cliff. The Selective Service contacted Bro with an offer he could not refuse by drafting him into the U.S. Army on April 19, 1966, and sending him to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, for his basic training. From there, he was sent to Fort Ord, California, for Infantry Training and then to Schofield Barracks in Hawaii before heading to Vietnam, where he served with the First Infantry Division in 1967-68.

Following his discharge from the Army, Bro finished up at the U of M while working as a swamper from 1:00 to 3:00 a.m. at the Viking Bar. He graduated in December 1969 with a degree in Political Science but remained underemployed. Will Steger, the polar explorer, Benilde’s classmate, and fellow wrestler, suggested a Master’s Degree Program at St. Thomas College in St. Paul.

With the G.I. Bill, he was able to afford Graduate School while interning at Oak Grove Junior High in Bloomington, and from 1970-71, he earned a Master’s Degree in Education at St. Thomas. Olsen was hired to teach 8th Grade at St. Agnes Catholic Grade School, but by the end of that year, he realized that he was not cut out to be a teacher.

In June of 1972, he and his wife, Autumn, along with their then three kids, packed up and moved to the Beltrami Island State Forest southeast of Roseau and started building their house. They had no power tools and never gave a thought to buying a generator. So, they built the house by hand for a total cost of $2,000. Bro later worked construction and also as a logger before being hired by Marvin Windows out of Warroad in May of 1976.

In September 1979, Bro was sitting on a pile of lumber during his lunch break and spotted a Roseau Times Region newspaper lying unattended. He picked it up and started paging through it when he saw an ad for the Head Wrestling Position at Roseau High School. He thought, “Why Not?” At the end of his shift at 3:15, he made the twenty-mile trip to Roseau, filled out an application form, and handed it to A.J. Kramer, the Athletic Director, who shook his hand and said, “Congratulations, you are our new Head Wrestling Coach.” Good thing they didn’t ask for a resume because Bro didn’t have one. Steve Furuseth, the former head coach, was willing to serve as his assistant, and it was a great partnership for several years before Dale Jaenicke(1982-1999) and Robert Hedlund, former Roseau Ram wrestlers, took over the assistant coaching duties. Dale and Robert worked for Polaris, and Bro was still at Marvin Windows. When asked about the strengths of his two assistants, Olsen explained that they were outstanding technicians, great workout partners, and wonderful characters.

In 1989, Roseau High School offered Bro an immediate teaching position if he would attend Bemidji State one night per week and be able to complete his Special Education Licensure by the Spring of 1992. It was a perfect fit for Bro, who describes himself as being Special Ed his entire life, and so he went for it. He worked as a Special Education Teacher and Case Manager for 18 years.

In 1988-89, Dean Housker came on board as Bro’s wrestling assistant and did a remarkable job as a technician, workout partner, and disciplinarian. Olsen recalls those years as “the best time of my life,” coaching hard-working kids and competing against equally amazing wrestlers and coaches around this great State of Minnesota.

Olsen tips his stocking cap to his wife, Autumn, a Wisconsin farm girl who picked up a whole lot of slack when he was coaching for all those years. She pumped water, hauled firewood, and kept the fire burning in the wood stove at 40 below weather.

Bro and Autumn are proud of their four children as well as their nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren – son Todd and his wife Lisa, son Kurt and his wife Nanette, with three children and a grand-daughter, son Shawn and his wife Carla, with four children and a grandson, and daughter April and her husband Jeff Reibestein, with two children. Shawn, nicknamed “Gump” after North Star Goalie Gump Worsley, was a Region Wrestling Champ and happens to have a grandson by the name of Forrest. One night at the supper table, April, the youngest and the only one still at home, remarked, “I think Dad cares more about his wrestlers than he does about us.” Bro’s wife Autumn looked at him, waiting for his reply before asking, “Is that true?” He thought hard for a minute, looked at his wife and daughter and said, ”Well, when was the last time either of you won a single match for me?” Instant smiles.

Olsen served as Roseau’s Head Wrestling Coach for 19 years, achieving a dual meet record of 146-79-5, and then finished his 20th year as an assistant before hanging up his coaching whistle and shoes after the 1998-1999 season. He served as a coach for 36 State Qualifiers with 12 Place-winners, including three State Champions and three State Runners-up. The Rams won a berth in the 1996 Minnesota Class 2A State Team Tournament, and Bro was the Section 5AA Coach of the Year in 1988, 1994, and 1996. He stated that records, championships, and accolades are good things to help keep track of in terms of success in the athletic arena, but what really counts is how the discipline, sacrifice, and camaraderie of the sport made a big difference with his wrestlers. He feels very lucky to have coached wrestling for twenty years after coming in without any training or coaching experience. Even breaking half a dozen ribs and undergoing a couple of rotator cuff surgeries was a small price to pay for the satisfaction of being able to assist so many wrestlers to become successful in life and a credit to the community.

Bro singled out Donna Rose, the longtime Roseau cheerleading advisor, who could be heard loud and clear in the packed Xcel Energy Center at the State Wrestling Tournament with her famous WOO, WOO, WOO! as she cheered on the Roseau wrestlers. Donna was like an extra coach and just a huge morale booster.

Olsen has also enjoyed his 44-year side job – writing wrestling and feature articles for the Roseau Times Region as well as for The Guillotine, our wrestling pipeline. He has enjoyed doing write­ ups on some of our legendary coaches like Big Dan “Jinksie” Jinks from Grand Rapids, Jerry “JC” Cleveland, still coaching wrestling in Staples at 74 years old, and Grappling Tom Gravelin, the retired Fosston Wrestling Coach and the best ever Athletic Director in Section SAA.

Bro is excited to see the expansion of our sport to include Girls Wrestling, a huge addition to our already unparalleled sport. In his final comments, Bro reflected on wrestling’s impact: “It’s an amazing sport, and I needed wrestling more than wrestling ever needed me. It changed my life. FOREVER! I’ve been blessed with lifelong friendships with old wrestlers and older coaches.”