What Is Army's Connection With McKendree Women's Wrestling?
· Yahoo Sports
The United States Army has an internal unit called the World Class Athlete Program (WCAP). It allows elite Soldier-athletes to train for and compete in the Olympic and Paralympic Games while serving on active duty, in the Army Reserve, or National Guard. Based at Fort Carson, Colorado, WCAP provides resources for athletes to train full-time and compete at the national/international level.
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Fort Carson is in Colorado Springs, where the United States Olympic Training Center (OTC) and USA Wrestling (USAW) are located. WCAP athletes — especially wrestlers — periodically train at the OTC with USAW National Women’s Team coach Terry Steiner and other elite-level wrestlers who are not in the army.
Bruce Robinson is the head women’s freestyle coach at WCAP, and Nate Engel is his assistant. Both oversee training. Here is an article about the program Robinson is building at WCAP.
McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois, has seen an influx of WCAP women’s freestyle wrestlers attend college there, and many wonder why. The Bearcats recently won the inaugural NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships with one full-time WCAP wrestler (207-pound champion Tristan Kelly) and one member of the National Guard (180-pound finalist Destiny Rodriguez).
The Athletes
Here’s a breakdown of the WCAP wrestlers on the McKendree roster.
Tristan Kelly (207) is a two-time national champion at McKendree (2025-26) and is a full-time member with WCAP. She transferred from Colorado Mesa and has a season of eligibility, which she plans to take, according to her post-NCAA Championships interview.
Jasmine Robinson (160) is a 2024 U20 World champion, 2025 U23 World silver medalist, and a 2023 U17 World bronze medalist. She competed for McKendree this season at the National Duals but tore her labrum and did not compete in the postseason. Robinson is full-time with WCAP and will compete for McKendree next season.
Adaugo Nwachukwu (138/145) is a 2022 U20 World bronze medalist who made the 2025 Senior World team at 62 kg. She was a three-time NAIA champion for Iowa Wesleyan/William Penn (2022-24) with a season of eligibility. She recently signed with McKendree and is full-time with WCAP.
Destiny Rodriguez (180) is in the National Guard but is not full-time with WCAP, although she is under Bruce Robinson’s purview. She attends McKendree full-time and trains with the team full-time. Rodriguez finished second at the NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships.
Katey Valdez (103) is in the process of joining the National Guard. She plans to stay at McKendree for the foreseeable future, but she will likely be in the National Guard (similar to Rodriguez). Valdez redshirted this season and could be the starter for McKendree at 103 pounds next season.
Jasmine and Bruce Robinson
Burning Questions
Here are three questions everyone wants to know.
1. How, exactly, does the WCAP/McKendree setup work?
2. How frequently do the WCAP athletes train at McKendree during the season?
3. Do the McKendree wrestlers train elsewhere, then drop in for a couple of big events during the season?
Bruce Robinson addresses these burning questions below.
How Does McKendree Get These WCAP Girls?
This is the question everyone wants answered. Robinson explains.
“When I took over the WCAP program, I had a goal of putting three to six girls on the Olympic team,” Robinson said. “These girls are like family to me. They’re like daughters to me, but I want to expand past that. How can I help them get a college education? I want to bring in high-level girls, but I also want them to get a college education while they are in the army.
“How can I get these girls to compete in college, win NCAA titles, serve their country as soldiers, and wrestle for me? I reached out to Iowa. I reached out to Grand Valley State. I reached out to other schools, saying, ‘Hey, I have these girls in the program with WCAP, I would like for them to be able to come to your school. The army would give some tuition assistance, which saves you money.’
“They always came back with, ‘That’s fine, we’d love to have your girls, but they have to come out here full-time and go to school full-time.’
“That’s not a possibility. They’re in the army. To be under my program, they have to be with me. And if I’m going to be frank, I don’t want my girls training full-time with anybody but me.
“They have me, they have Nate Engel, they have Terry Steiner, Sarah Hildebrandt — they have very high-level coaching. It wouldn’t make sense for my girls to get coached somewhere else.
“I would love for them to be in these colleges and wrestle, but I can send them out there 10 days at a time to help your girls get better. I can come out and help your school, as well.
“The answer was always, “No, no, no, we’re not going to do that. If they’re not here full-time, it’s not fair to the other girls to have them on the team.”
Enter McKendree Head Coach Alexio Garcia
That’s where McKendree coach Alexio Garcia comes in. He was willing to explore part-time options to have WCAP girls on the roster, as Robinson explains below.
“Alexio found me at a camp and heard that I was looking for a place for our girls to go to school,” Robinson said. “He told me they have online programs and would I consider doing that with him. We had some conversations and had some dinners. He has a relationship with (WCAP athlete and former McKendree national champion) Brenda Reyna and a couple of other girls.
“Tristan Kelly was looking to wrestle in college again. She left Colorado Mesa and wanted to go back to school. At the end of the day, it is their decision. I’m not forcing anyone to do anything. I want to make sure they are comfortable with you and have a good relationship with you.
“I told Alexio what I told the other schools. We’d come out there for 10 days at a time, but they are going to be at WCAP most of the time. There’s no give on that. For one thing, the army obligations won’t allow them to not be there, and second, I don’t want them there full-time because I want them training with me.
“We came to an agreement where he was fine with that. They have other good girls. (Our girls) have to certify at their weight, wrestle off, and earn their spot. They’re not given anything. It sort of built from there.”
What’s Bruce Robinson’s Role With McKendree?
There’s a good chance Robinson will be in the corner coaching for McKendree at the National Duals, regionals, and the NCAA Championships. Robinson explains his role.
“I started coaching some of these girls,” Robinson said. “I coached Haylie Jaffe (two-time All-American for McKendree) at U20 Worlds. I’m close with Cam Guerin (five-time national champion for McKendree). From there, the relationship was built. I’ll go down there and help his girls. If they are at (Women’s Nationals) in Spokane, I’ll help coach his girls.
“Destiny Rodriguez is with me at WCAP, and she wrestled for him as a youth. The relationship went from there. I want my girls to go wherever they want to go to get that college experience, but no one else is willing to entertain that.”
Aren’t The Colleges That Don’t Want Part-Time WCAP Girls Using The Same Philosophy As Robinson?
Yes, you are perceptive to ask. Isn’t it ironic? Don’t you think?
“I get their side of that, too,” Robinson said. “They want their team together. Then something has to give. I want my girls who are soldiers to have the same opportunities as the other college girls and not have to say, ‘If I choose WCAP, then I can’t wrestle in college.’
“Alexio and I are pretty tight. My girls trust him, and that’s the most important thing. He’s never done them wrong. He offers them whatever they need. I send them down there with him, and I’m not worried about him getting them hurt or overtraining. We just work well together. This is what is expected, and this is what he needs from me. It’s a mutually good relationship that has turned into a really good friendship.”
More On The Training Situation
Let’s double down on the training situation since that’s where most of the questions and curiosity arise.
“That’s army regulation,” Robinson said. “It’s called sports leave. They’re full-time soldiers. They wrestle for the military, but they are soldiers first. The army allows me to send them down there for 10 days because I want Tristan to train with Destiny to get Destiny better because she’s a WCAP girl, too. I need her to have partners to get better. I could send them down there two or three weeks at a time if I could, but the army won’t allow that.”
What Are The WCAP Options?
“Destiny is full-time with McKendree,” Robinson said. “She wanted to be at college full-time. She’ll come to WCAP full-time when she graduates. That is an option for them. Destiny will come out and train with me full-time in the summers. She’s not getting paid as a soldier. There are benefits to being in WCAP full-time.
“If (Destiny) is at McKendree full-time, she’s not activated like Tristan and Jasmine. They are full-time, and they get paid full-time to wrestle for the military. They have other military obligations, as well. They are full-time soldiers. Destiny is not. She is National Guard. She does drill (with the National Guard) once a month.”
Does Tristan Kelly Train At McKendree More Often Than Most?
Yes, thank you for asking. How did you know?
“Tristan spends a lot of time at McKendree. She’s just not there full-time. She’s an online student. For a three-month time frame, she’s there for around a month.”