Jay Robinson (wrestler)

Last updated

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
Sport Wrestling
Event(s) Greco-Roman, Freestyle, and Folkstyle
College team Oklahoma State
ClubU.S. Army
Minnesota Wrestling Club
TeamUSA

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]

Contents

Competitive career

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

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

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

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

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Taylor (wrestler)</span> American professional and amateur wrestler (1950–1979)

Christopher J. Taylor was an American super-heavyweight wrestler. He competed in freestyle and Greco-Roman events at the 1972 Summer Olympics and won a bronze medal in the freestyle. At 412 pounds (187 kg), he was the heaviest Olympian ever until the appearance of judoka Ricardo Blas Jr. in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum</span>

The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum and hall of fame for amateur wrestling, headquartered in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2010, it began operating the Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo, Iowa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brad Rheingans</span> American wrestler (born 1953)

Bradley Bert Rheingans is an American former Greco-Roman wrestler and professional wrestler. He was a member of the United States' Greco-Roman wrestling teams for the 1976 and 1980 Summer Olympics, as well as winning two gold medals in the 1975 and 1979 Pan American Games and a bronze medal in the 1979 World Wrestling Championships. As a professional, Rheingans co-held the AWA World Tag Team Championship one time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armen Nazaryan</span> Armenian Greco-Roman wrestler

Armen Nazaryan is an Armenian Greco-Roman wrestler who later represented Bulgaria. Nazaryan is a two-time Olympic Champion, a three-time World Champion, and a six-time European Champion. After Armenia regained independence in 1991, Nazaryan became the first Olympic gold medalist for the country. He was recognized by the FILA as the best wrestler of the year in 1998 and 2003. In 2007, Nazaryan was inducted as a member of the FILA Hall of Fame.

Dale O. Thomas was the head coach of the Oregon State wrestling team at Oregon State University from 1957 to 1990, and is a National Wrestling Hall of Fame member. He competed in the men's Greco-Roman light heavyweight at the 1956 Summer Olympics. He died of kidney and liver failure due to complications from primary sclerosing cholangitis at the age of 81.

The National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) is a nonprofit association of 162 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organize the wrestling programs of many colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. It is led by founder and executive director Jim Giunta headquartered in Dallas, Texas and built to help the promotion of collegiate wrestling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minnesota Golden Gophers wrestling</span> Wrestling team of the University of Minnesota

The Minnesota Golden Gophers wrestling program is an intercollegiate varsity sport at the University of Minnesota. They are a member of the Big Ten Conference and NCAA. Wrestling began at Minnesota in 1910, but the first formal dual meet was not until 1921 when coach Frank Gilman led the team to a victory over Wisconsin. The Gophers have won the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships team title three times, in 2001, 2002, and 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United World Wrestling</span> Wrestling governing body

United World Wrestling (UWW) is the international governing body for the sport of Wrestling; its duties include overseeing wrestling at the World Championships and Olympics. It presides over international competitions for various forms of wrestling, including Greco-Roman, Freestyle, Grappling, and others. The flagship event of UWW is the World Wrestling Championships.

Mithat Bayrak was a Turkish sports wrestler and trainer, who won two consecutive gold medals in the Welterweight class of Men's Greco-Roman Wrestling at the 1956 Olympics and 1960 Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivar Johansson (wrestler)</span> Swedish wrestler (1903–1979)

Ivar Valentin Johansson was a Swedish wrestler who competed at the 1928, 1932 and 1936 Summer Olympics. In 1932 he won the gold medal in the Greco-Roman welterweight and freestyle middleweight events. Four years later he won the gold medal in the Greco-Roman middleweight competition.

Andrew Mark Borodow is retired male wrestler from Canada. An Olympian, he won both the Maccabiah Games championship and the Commonwealth Games championship, and a silver medal in the Pan American Games. He was inducted into the Canada Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Brandon Douglas Paulson is a former Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler and current wrestling coach. Paulson was born in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, and is a 1992 graduate of Anoka High School. At Anoka High, Paulson was a three time state champion in his weight class and was named Mr. Minnesota Wrestling in his senior year after finishing with a career record of 155-12-1. Paulson was the first high school wrestler to earn a spot on the U.S. National Senior team when he qualified for the 1991–1992 team. In 1993 he was a Junior World Silver Medalist. Overall, he earned 16 national titles in Greco-Roman and Freestyle wrestling, and was a 1996 Olympic silver medalist in the 114.5 lbs weight class in Greco-Roman wrestling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mnatsakan Iskandaryan</span> Armenian Greco-Roman wrestler

Mnatsakan Iskandaryan is a former Armenian Greco-Roman wrestler who competed for the Soviet Union and Russia. Iskandaryan is an Olympic Champion, three-time World Champion, and two-time European Champion. He earned the rank Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR in 1991 and was named Honoured Coach of Russia in 2000. In 2012, Iskandaryan was inducted into the FILA Hall of Fame as the sole Greco-Roman inductee. He's the second Armenian to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, after Armen Nazaryan.

James "Jim" Martinez is an American former wrestler. He was born in Osseo, Minnesota. Martinez was an Olympic bronze medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Martinez did professional wrestling in Minnesota for the American Wrestling Association in 1984. He also won a bronze medal at the 1985 World Wrestling Championships.

Kevin Bracken is an American Greco-Roman wrestler who competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics, where he finished 6th place at 63 kg. He is currently the Head Coach of the Olympian Wrestling Club, Castle Rock, Colorado.

Isaac Anderson is an American former Greco-Roman wrestler who competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics at 62 kg. He was also a former Greco-Roman developmental coach for USA Wrestling. In 2024, he was honored with the Lifetime Service to Wresting Award for the South Carolina Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

James Matthew Gruenwald is a retired amateur American Greco-Roman wrestler, who competed in the men's lightweight category. He won three U.S. national titles, picked up a bronze medal in the 60-kg division at the 2003 Pan American Games, and represented the United States in two editions of the Olympic Games, finishing sixth in Sydney and tenth in Athens respectively. Since his sporting career ended in late 2004, Gruenwald served as an assistant coach for the Greco-Roman wrestling team at the United States Olympic Training Center in Marquette, Michigan from 2005 - 2009, and currently, heads the Wheaton College wrestling program in Illinois.

Garry Kallos is a Canadian former wrestler who competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics and won five gold medals at the Maccabiah Games in Israel, and sambo competitor who won a gold medal at the Pan American Games.

Alan Rice is an American former wrestler and coach. He competed in the men's Greco-Roman featherweight at the 1956 Summer Olympics. He was also a silver medalist at the 1955 Pan American Games in freestyle wrestling, competing in the 63 kg weight class. He was an AAU national champion in both freestyle and Greco-Roman. Rice wrestled collegiately at the University of Minnesota, where he was an NCAA All-American in 1949.

Jim Peckham was an American wrestler and coach. He competed in the men's Greco-Roman middleweight at the 1956 Summer Olympics.

References

  1. 1 2 "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. Archived from the original on October 27, 2017. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  3. "J Robinson". University of Minnesota. Archived from the original on January 12, 2018. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  4. Coach J Robinson Archived June 9, 2024, at the Wayback Machine . National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Retrieved September 19, 2022.