Jay Robinson (wrestler)

Jay Paul Robinson (born June 7, 1946), known as J Robinson, is an American former wrestler who competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics, where he competed as a middleweight Greco-Roman wrestler.[1]

Jay Robinson
Personal information
Full nameJay Paul Robinson
Born (1946-06-07) June 7, 1946 (age 78)
San Diego, California, U.S.
Sport
CountryUnited States
SportWrestling
Event(s)Greco-Roman, Freestyle, and Folkstyle
College teamOklahoma State
ClubU.S. Army
Minnesota Wrestling Club
TeamUSA

Competitive career

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As a Greco-Roman wrestler in the 82 kilogram weight class, Robinson finished 4th at the 1970 World Wrestling Championships, held in Edmonton, Canada. He finished 5th at the 1971 World Wrestling Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.[1] Robinson was also on the USA Greco-Roman Olympic team at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany.

Coaching career

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After his competitive career, Robinson would later serve as the head wrestling coach at the University of Minnesota for 30 years until his termination on 7 September 2016, following an investigation into a prescription drug scandal that involved the Golden Gophers wrestling program.[2][3]

During his tenure from 1986 to 2016, Minnesota won three national championships (2001, 2002, 2007), six Big Ten championships (1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007), and had 14 individual national champions.

Honors

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In 2005, Robinson was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member.

In 2013, he was honored with the Alan and Gloria Rice Greco – Leadership Award.

In 2018, he was honored with the Lifetime Service to Wrestling for the Minnesota Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.[4]

Personal life

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Robinson served as a United States Army Ranger and is a Vietnam Veteran.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Jay Robinson," Archived 2012-12-17 at the Wayback Machine SR/Olympic Sports, SportsReference.com.
  2. ^ Fuller, Marcus; Christensen, Joe (September 8, 2016). "J Robinson fired by University of Minnesota after 30 years as wrestling coach". Star Tribune.
  3. ^ "J Robinson". University of Minnesota. Archived from the original on January 12, 2018. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  4. ^ Coach J Robinson. National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Retrieved September 19, 2022.