Neither disability nor doubters set back ASU wrestler

 by Sam Good
 published on Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Jeffrey Lowman / THE STATE PRESS

When Anthony Robles showed up to the first day of Mesa High School's wrestling practice in the winter of 2002, Mesa's coach Bobby Williams didn't have high expectations for the 14-year-old.

Upon first glance, Williams couldn't imagine what Robles would accomplish. He couldn't fathom that the kid standing in front of him would become a two-time state champion and win a national title.

All Williams saw was a kid on crutches who was missing his right leg.

"I see potential in every kid when they walk in on the first day," Williams said. "But I didn't think Anthony would go on and become as good as he is. I couldn't have guessed that when I first saw him, but he showed me otherwise."

And that's exactly what Robles has been doing all his life — proving his doubters wrong.

Like the people who thought he wouldn't be able to live a normal life.

And all of the coaches at powerhouse college wrestling programs across the nation who didn't want to take a chance on a one-legged kid because they believed he wouldn't succeed at the collegiate level.

Even some of Robles current teammates on ASU's wrestling team wondered if his skills would translate from high school to college.

"My first thought was that here was a kid coming out of high school, yeah he won nationals, but we'll see how things go," ASU's 165-pound senior Patrick Pitsch said. "The competition in college is way different from high school and the transition can be tough."

But now, fresh off of a second place finish in the Pac-10 Tournament as a redshirt freshman, Robles is proving he belongs at a Division I school and relishes in the fact that he has done what so many people believed he couldn't.

"It's nice to prove them wrong," Robles said. "I've been experiencing people telling me I'm not going to be able to do something my whole life.

"But I'm going to show them what I can do. They're going to be sorry they doubted me."

One person who never doubted Robles is ASU coach Thom Ortiz. After getting to know Robles and seeing his character, there was no doubt in Ortiz's mind that Robles would make a name for himself in the college ranks.

"In the recruiting process I felt fairly lucky that those other coaches didn't know him personally because they didn't know what kind of heart he has," Ortiz said. "I had a gut feeling that because of his heart, he was going to be able to compete at the D-I level."

Robles doesn't think of his missing leg as a disability. For him, that's just how he was born and a part of who he is.

"I grew up like this so this is all I know, and I don't care what anyone thinks," he said. "This is how I am and I can't change it so why worry about it? I'll do what I can with what God gave me."

Doctors aren't sure why his leg isn't there. Robles said it was just a "fluke," and that "there is nothing wrong with me other than the missing leg."

Through the years, Robles' parents taught him to be strong and to deal with what he was given. That has stuck with him his whole life and it's had to in order for Robles to get to where he is today.

He grew up in a house full of brothers and one sister who were always playing sports. Not wanting to be left out, Robles would join in and play with them, not seeing himself as any different.

But when Robles got to high school, most sports weren't feasible for him. Still, he couldn't just sit around — he's too competitive.

"I had to do some sport," he said. "I couldn't imagine what I would have done otherwise.

"One of my older cousins wrestled and he started teaching me moves, and I really liked it. So I decided to pick it up and give it a try."

Early on in his high school career, Robles' opponents thought he was weak and didn't want to hurt him. Soon enough though, he started to build a reputation and his opponents stopped going easy on him.

But that didn't matter.

Robles didn't lose a bout in his final two years of high school and captured the national championship for the 112-pound weight class his senior year.

And although Robles was successful in high school, he knew college wrestling wouldn't be an easy task.

So he stayed determined. He stayed focused. And now, he has a chance to become as dominant in college as he was in high school.

"Sometimes I miss high school," Robles said. "Coming into college is a lot tougher, but this is what I expected, and I like it.

"I know I always need to improve in something. I just want to be the best and I'm always going to be working at that."

Reach the reporter at: samuel.good@asu.edu.