What the FloFilms stories of Terry Brands, Isaiah Martinez and Cary Kolat have proven is that wrestling fans are excited to learn the history and hear the stories of our greatest wrestlers and coaches.

Next in line is the story of J Robinson and his journey of turning Minnesota Wrestling into a top tier program.

We are breaking new ground in the FloFilms world with this one. The 2001 Minnesota wrestling team is one of historical significance for multiple reasons. It marked the first time a team had won an NCAA team title without a national finalist and was also the first time any team had produced an All-American at all 10 weights.

We gathered several of the starters from the 2001 team into a group setting to recall the year that Minnesota captured their first-ever NCAA team title. It was the first time we utilized this type of format and it made for a fun and entertaining way to hear them relive their historical team championship.

From ragging on teammates for being bad weight cutters to stories of them finally being able to hold the team trophy over Iowa fans and smile, it was a truly unique way to hear the stories first hand from those who lived it. It was the light-hearted moments like that which complimented their recollection of one of the most dramatic team finishes in NCAA wrestling history.

 
On their fearless leader, J Robinson.

Talk about a guy who has seen and done it all.

He went to school at Oklahoma State.

He served in Vietnam.

He wrestled in the Olympics.

He coached at Iowa with Dan Gable.

He built the most highly successful wrestling camp system in the country.

He took over a struggling Minnesota wrestling program and turned it into a national powerhouse.

Dating all the way back to the late 1970’s, aside from Oklahoma State and Iowa no team had won more than one NCAA team title until the Minnesota Golden Gophers did it back to back in 2001-2002.

No other coach has matched what J Robinson has been able to do. No other coach has taken a program that was struggling as much as Minnesota was in 1986, and turned them into a team that's had as much success as Minnesota has. When he took over the program 30 years ago Minnesota was 34th in the NCAA. 

Fast forward to today and J Rob has built Minnesota into a well-oiled machine that has finished in the top ten 22 of the last 26 years. For a span of seven straight years, they finished in the top three. Six times they have been NCAA runner-up and three times they have taken home the NCAA team title.

Building a program the way J Robinson has done is next to impossible. And it certainly has not been without struggles. From day one Robinson had this grand vision, to get Minnesota wrestling to the top. His plan was to make that happen in five years from taking the job. He was actually on track to make a push for that before a series of unfortunate events would plague the program and delay those plans.

In this series we hear Minnesota all-stars Marty Morgan, Chad Kraft and Tim Hartung give their perspective on the years when Minnesota was coming into prominence. They recall the strong rise of Minnesota wrestling but their continued let downs at the NCAA Championships. They had seen a lot of success but were ultimately unable to capture that illusive NCAA team title.

Coach Robinson did some soul searching during these times of struggle and looks back on them very reflectively. While interviewing J Rob, more than once I thought to myself, “This guy is really rambling here.”

But it was usually not long after that when J would say something profound that tied everything together that he had been “rambling on about”.

At 68 years old it’s not his age, but rather his experience that makes J Robinson the wise man that he is. He speaks more philosophically than most college wrestling coaches.

Learn the complete story of one of the most legendary NCAA wrestling coaches and just how he was able to bring Minnesota into a place no one else imagined. Relive the ups and downs he experienced over the years as he strove for excellence.

Episode one of Keepers Of The Flame premiers tomorrow morning followed by episode two on Wednesday, February 17.

Get a sneak peak here with the series trailer: