Greg Hansen: Iowa-bound Sebastian Robles does his family, school proud

The most honored piece of sports turf in Tucson isn’t McKale Center or Tucson National or Hi Corbett Field. It’s the wrestling room at Sunnyside High School.

It’s 34 state championships since 1979. It’s more than 100 individual state champions. It’s an indisputable sports dynasty that has never been matched at any level of Tucson sports.

There is no official “first family” of Sunnyside wrestling because there are so many first families. The Cotas, the DeBerrys, the Sanchezes, the Ybarras, the Gallicks and a distinguished list of Blue Devils champions that seems to never end.

And then there’s the family tree of the late Federico and Virginia Robles, which has taken root and spread like a sturdy oak tree protecting the Sunnyside wrestling program.

When Sunnyside won its 34th state title in February, senior Sebastian Robles became the latest Blue Devil to win back-to-back state championships. His brother, Rico, won a state championship in 2019.

“They’re good boys, we’re very blessed,” said their father, Fred Robles. “Words cannot express how proud we are.”

The success of Sebastian and Rico Robles is merely one chapter in the weighty book of the Robles wrestling family.

Fred was a key part of Sunnyside’s 1985 and 1986 state championship teams. His brother, Ramon Robles, was a state champ on the first-ever Blue Devil state title team, 1979, and again in 1981. Older brothers Guillermo Robles — winner of the 1970s equivalent of the state’s Gatorade player of the year award— and Jose Robles, valedictorian of Sunnyside’s Class of 1974, were among those who helped get the Sunnyside wrestling program started.

Then came the youngest of five brothers, Antonio Robles, who won a 1989 state championship.

More? “When I was in high school,” Fred Robles said, “my wife (Marnie Amado) was a Mat Maid for Sunnyside wrestling. Her brothers, Alfred in 1985 and Marcos in 1990, were outstanding wrestlers at the school. There’s a lot of history there.”

That history added a nationally significant element last week when Sebastian Robles completed a two-week stay in Iowa City, essentially auditioning for a spot on the NCAA champion Iowa Hawkeyes wrestling team.

Iowa coach Tom Brands, a 1996 Olympic gold medalist and three-time NCAA champion, had invited Robles to compete and train against many of the nation’s leading wrestling recruits. That’s like Nick Saban inviting a football player to try out for the Crimson Tide football team.

After two weeks, Sebastian phoned home.

“Dad, Coach Brands is going to call you,” he said. “Keep your ringer on. If you get a call from an Iowa area code, please answer.”

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A few minutes later, the man who coached Iowa to four of its 24 NCAA wrestling championships told Fred Robles that his youngest son had earned a spot on Iowa’s wrestling team.

“I wept like a baby,” Fred said. “As (Sunnyside coach) Anthony Leon had told me, ‘Sebastian is being put on display, wrestling against five-star recruits. He can do it.’ And he did.’”

Fred Robles, who has worked in the pharmaceutical and medical devices industries, knows a good wrestler when he sees one. He watched 1980s Blue Devil legends Thom Ortiz and Eddie Urbano go from high school hopefuls to national champions.Now he is watching his son take a similar path.

Sebastian Robles hasn’t taken the typical journey to Iowa’s wrestling program. He didn’t even make Sunnyside’s starting lineup as a sophomore.

“He didn’t have a credentialed past when we got him,” said Leon, who has coached Sunnyside to its last five state championships. “I can honestly say I didn’t see it coming. He’s not like (2021 NCAA champion) Roman Bravo-Young, who you could see coming from a mile away. It goes to the point that anything is possible if you put in the time.”

Once Sebastian Robles became a Sunnyside junior, he was all in and then some.

“People doubted me,” he said. “When you go into that wrestling room at Sunnyside people are trying to take your head off. The history of that room pushes you to earn respect. Those are the same brick walls through which all of the great champions have passed. That was a very strong motivation for me. I wanted to be part of it.”

And now he is.

Sebastian’s proud father couldn’t help but think back to what it took for him to be part of two Sunnyside championship teams, and how disciplined and dedicated his brothers and brothers-in-law had to be while winning state championships.

He sees the same thing in Sebastian.

“Years ago when Sebastian was playing baseball in the Western Little League, I told him the one thing you can’t teach is guts. You can improve your speed and build your strength, but from the beginning he showed grit,” he said. “He had the intangible. Others see it, too. When Coach Brands called from Iowa he said, ‘Your son is a tough sonofagun. We want him to be a Hawkeye.’”

The Robles family is far more than wrestling. Sebastian has a 3.5 GPA. He wants to follow his dad and his uncles and work in the medical field. His mother is a teacher. His brother, Rico, is headed to Arizona State to wrestle. Success breeds success.

“I look up to my dad, I see him as a superhero,” Sebastian said. “He made a name for himself and so has everyone in our family. Now it’s my turn.”