Rob Shaver began wrestling in 4th grade when Island Trees Coach Ted Peterson ran an intra-district tournament at his Elementary school. It was the start of a learning journey from one of Long Island's great coaches. Coach Peterson and his assistants, like Dane Peterson and Russ Cellan, cared about the quality of the man as much as they did the quality of the wrestler. This and many other lessons, such as, seek the highest; never stop learning; contribute to the community; and lift weights; influenced Rob throughout his career.

Rob wrestled varsity from 10th through 12th grade, finishing second in the county his senior year (1987). During High School, Coach Peterson introduced him to wrestling legends like Billy Martin (Granby School), Dan Gable, Kenny Monday, Bob Bury, John Walters, Gary Ventimiglia and many more.

Rob wrestled at Delhi for 2 years and majored in Veterinary Science and Forestry. He went on to Stony Brook University in the PT program but ultimately moved to Cortland to become a Phys Ed Major with additional certifications in the sciences - thanks to coursework completed in the other programs.

His first teaching role in 1992 was as a permanent substitute at Freeport HS with his former coach Russ Cellan. He was also the assistant wrestling and football coach at his alma mater, Island Trees. In 1993, he moved to Island Trees as a leave replacement teaching Physics and Biology. In 1994, following in coach Peterson’s footsteps, he became the head wrestling coach. He had his first county placewinner in 1994 and won Rookie Coach of the Year in 1995.

In 1996, Rob was hired as the full-time Phys-Ed teacher and head football and wrestling coach at Plainedge High School. That first year at Plainedge, the teams were struggling. Wrestling had only 14 kids with one county place winner. Rob got to work building the program based on the core values instilled in him early on. He launched a kiddie wrestling program, enrolling 115 kids the first year. Later on, he and his assistant, Matt Rich, formed Powerbomb wrestling to bring kids from clinics to competitions.

He started an early Sunday morning ritual for his wrestlers where they would meet at his house for “sump runs”.  They run hills, drag sleds, flip tractor tires, throw kegs, carry cinder blocks, and more.  He was building resilience, grit and core memories that his wrestling alums still talk about.

He built schedules filled with the toughest competition he could find, often traveling to remote tournaments or other states. He got kids enrolled in the Penn State wrestling camps and into off season tournaments and brought in guest coaches and alums to teach skills. He filled the Plainedge weight room with donated equipment and got a lifting program going for all students. Ultimately, he got weightlifting and fitness into the DNA at Plainedge and the school investing in state-of-the-art facilities. He also opened the doors at Plainedge, willing to help other teams and individual wrestlers that reached out for a place to work out.

Before long he had built a powerful program, producing 125 County place winners, including 22 County Champions, 20 NY State place winners, including 2 NY State Champions, and bringing home a NY State dual meet championship in 2024. During his tenure, he garnered Rookie Coach of the Year, League Coach of the Year 16 times, County Coach of the Year (2002, 2024), Newsday All Long Island Coach of the Year (2024) and was inducted into the Nassau County Athletic Hall of Fame in 2023.

On top of that, he developed quality coaching talent as many of his assistants and former wrestlers went on to coach or run their own programs, 13 of which are actively coaching today in Nassau County. Rob Shaver’s legacy, and his dedication to the sport of wrestling, will live on for a long time.