J Robinson passed away

MSU158

All-Conference
Nov 20, 2014
1,178
3,112
113
A true man of his word. Many may disagree with how he handled the situation that inevitably ended up ending his career at Minnesota. But, he made a deal with is athletes and stuck to it, inevitably taking the fall so they didn’t have to.

Hopefully they all learned from his example and became better men because of it.

RIP. Mr. Robinson.
 

AndreTheHawk

All-Conference
Jul 2, 2025
956
1,947
93
Loved me some J Robinson. If he was sick, I was not aware. Wrestling lost a great coach with his retirement and a great person with his passing.
Rest in Peace JRob.🙏
Chuck Norris and now J Robinson, what the hell is going on!

Seriously though, J Rob had some outstanding teams at Minnesota, and for quite a stretch there those Iowa vs Minnesota duals were MUST SEE stuff. I put on a lot of miles in those days to be there in person, and they always delivered. Good times. The guy was clearly one hell of a Wrestling Coach.

R.I.P. J Rob
 

Sledgehammer

Freshman
Mar 19, 2021
13
81
13
My son attended a JRob Intensive Camp after his junior year and it lit a fire in him and created a mental toughness that has helped him in wrestling and life. Said he hated every day of that camp but wouldn’t change a thing Always appreciated him taking the fall for his guys, many coaches would not have done that.
 

Zach Jump

All-Conference
Jun 24, 2022
2,690
4,600
113
He spent time once hanging out with my high school wrestling team at the year beginning dinner. Don't remember the words from 40 some years ago...just remember he took the time to do it (just before dinner became something you got to watch others do)
 

Bones Malone

Freshman
Jan 21, 2019
28
93
13
JRob used to work the Iowa Great Lakes Wrestling Camp up on the Lake Okoboji back in the 70's, prior to starting the Intensive Camps run in Iowa City. I was a kid and my memory might not be so great but I believe Dave Martin (Algona & Ok.St) ran the camp. His dad, Champ, was the head coach at Algona for many years. Anyway, it was not uncommon for JRob to start camp sessions with a "Dirty Dave" joke. When you're a kid, you may not understand the relevance and it takes time for you to completely understand and piece things together, until you get older. I believe it was a playful "jab" at Dave Martin. Anyway, just my favorite JRob memory and I always remember liking him (in spite of the fact he wrestled for the Cowboys).

Years later, I was in the pisser at Williams Arena for the B1G tourney and JRob came in next to me. I told him about my camp experience and thanked him for all he'd done for the sport of wrestling in Iowa. An odd but cool moment...

Off topic but another silly childhood memory was wondering way the Martin's went "all the way to Stillwater" to wrestle for the dastardly Cowboys. Wonderful Iowa wrestling family who impacted the sport of amatuer wrestling immensely. As a kid, I just couldn't get my head around them wrestling for the Cowboys. I call this the "Gable effect"...
 
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