After being ranked as high as number six in the country, junior Vincent Robinson realized that he was no longer an average high school wrestler. 

For Robinson, wrestling is a family trait. Throughout his young career, Robinson has always been in the presence of both his father and former wrestler, Vasil, and his three brothers.

Even though Robinson didn’t necessarily see himself as a wrestler early on in his life, the influence of his father quickly changed his outlook on the sport.

“My dad originally put me into the sport,” Robinson said. “It wasn’t something that I wanted to do but I really had no choice because my dad used to wrestle.” 

But Vincent Robinson didn’t become one of the best wrestlers in the country overnight. With the help of his father and brothers, a good foundation was created for Robinson as early as he can remember.

“He (Vasil Robinson) taught me structure and discipline when I’m on the mat,” Robinson said. “He always told me to wrestle smart and with an attitude.”

Robinson took this advice into high school as he started his wrestling career at Marian Catholic High School. At Marian, Robinson was very successful ultimately advancing to the 120-pound state championship, but nearly losing by a score of 6-4 in February of 2020. 

After spending his freshman year at Marian, Vincent and his family decided that it was best to transfer to H-F. 

“The culture in the wrestling room played a big decision in why I decided to transfer to H-F,” Robinson said. “When I came to H-F I had more partners and more structure in terms of the coaching staff and especially coach Soko.”

Before transferring to H-F, assistant coach Viasil Robinson and Head Coach Jim Sokoloski had already connected from their days as wrestlers and coaches. 

“Coach Vasil and I met each other a while ago and hit it off immediately,” Sokoloski said. “His knowledge as a wrestling coach and mentor is unmatched and it’s honestly been great working alongside Vasil.”  

Since competing as wrestlers in high school, Vincent Robinson and his younger brother and sophomore Jaydon Robinson have only faced the highest of competition as they’ve been a part of the varsity team throughout their careers.

Even though Vincent Robinson has only been at H-F for two years, he has already shown improvement both mentally and physically. 

“I think Vincent has improved his mental game more than anything,” Sokoloski said. “Whenever Vincent walks on the mat, he’s the most athletic one out there, but now that his mental game is improving, he’ll be so hard to beat.”

Prior to the start of this season, Robinson and his brother have already shown why they are some of the best in the state with Jaydon placing 4th and Vincent placing 5th at the Fargo Nationals, in their own respective weight classes. 

“My goal for me and him (Jaydon) is to win a state title,” Robinson said.

But even with the additions of Vincent and Jaydon Robinson, the Vikings also welcomed another talented wrestler to the team in junior Deion Johnson, and expect to surpass their performance from the past few seasons. 

“The last time we competed in Regionals, we took 5th as a team with basically only upper weight wrestlers who were competitive,” Sokoloski said. “Adding some lighter weight wrestlers to our already extremely talented upper weight classes made us a team to contend with.”

Currently H-F is ranked as one of the best teams in the state for the first time in school history and after having a shortened and unconventional season last year, the Vikings have set numerous goals in order to have a successful mindset throughout the season.

“My goal is for the whole team to get better and for everyone to win state,” Robinson said. “We just should at least try to progress from what we knew from the beginning of the season to the end.”

Leadership will be a huge part of Robinson’s game heading into the season especially with being ranked sixth in the country

“His individual accolades put him in a position of being a leader, but his energy and enthusiasm for the sport and his teammates is what separates him from the rest,” Sokoloski said. “Next year, we will hopefully be coming back for his 2nd state title, so he will be laser focused and a role model for everyone in the program.”

The sky’s the limit for Robinson as he has already accomplished a great amount of feats in just three years of high school competition. 

“After high school in 2024, I want to win the gold medal and become the youngest to ever do it,” Robinson said.

After Vincent Robinson graduates and goes on to compete collegiately, and potentially professionally, his legacy on and off the mat is what will truly be remembered. 

“Vincent is obviously a great wrestler, he’ll go down at the best to ever walk these halls when it’s all said and done,” Sokoloski said. “Vincent is truly the heartbeat of our program.”