About

Brian Beckstrand

Brian Beckstrand grew up in St. George playing all kinds of sports. He played basketball for Dixie High School and then later at Dixie College, before finishing his college days at Southern Virginia University.

Beckstrand moved back to St. George after college with his wife Holly. He has 5 kids and they are a major reason he got started in training for American Ninja Warrior. He built a small course in his backyard for the kids to play on and decided that he wanted to play with them. Their backyard course has since grown to well over 50 obstacles and he competed on seasons 7 and 8 of the hit show American Ninja Warrior. Beckstrand completed the qualifying course both years and just missed qualifying for the national finals.

It is his love of the ninja sport and the ability to enjoy it with his family that has inspired them to open a facility where everyone can participate in making fitness fun!

John Merrihew

After watching a few seasons of American Ninja Warrior as a family and listening to his wife and kids ask “Can you do that”? John Merrihew decided he was going to try out for the hit television show “American Ninja Warrior”. While watching the show, he saw his neighbor Jon Stewart competing. Merrihew contacted Stewart to see if he could start training with him, that’s where he met Brian Beckstrand. He submitted an application and was selected to compete on season 8 of American Ninja Warrior.

Aside from his love for American Ninja Warrior, John is a certified rescue diver. He is also a sponsored semi-professional wakeboarder. He has competed across the state of Utah and Idaho, winning titles in his division.

John played football for Virgin Valley High School and went on to play in the Down Under Bowl for the Nevada State All-Star team in Australia and New Zealand. After high school he went on to play semi pro football for the Salt Lake Blitz and the St. George Blitz. He was offered a scholarship but chose to forfeit it in order to serve a two year mission for his church. He served in Santiago Chile where he learned to speak Spanish.

John has been a business owner for over seventeen years where he utilizes his Spanish daily. He runs an iron fence and gate company in Washington Utah called Gate Solutions. He designs, welds, fabricates and installs iron work across Southern Utah. This is where he got his nickname “Iron Man”. John was able to use his talents by building all of the steel structures and obstacles at The Grip.