| Jay Robinson | |
| Full Name: | Jay Paul Robinson |
| Sport: | Wrestling |
| Event: | Greco-Roman, Freestyle, and Folkstyle |
| Country: | United States |
| Team: | USA |
| Collegeteam: | Oklahoma State |
| Club: | U.S. Army Minnesota Wrestling Club |
| Birth Date: | June 7, 1946 |
| Birth Place: | San Diego, California, U.S. |
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]
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. Robinson was also on the USA Greco-Roman Olympic team at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany.
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.
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]
Robinson served as a United States Army Ranger and is a Vietnam Veteran.