NCAA national wrestling champion Anthony Robles won two awards at last night's ESPY awards in Las Angeles, California: the "Jimmy V Award for Perseverance" and "Best Male Athlete with a Disability".
One-Legged Wrestling Champ Anthony Robles Takes Home ESPY Award
NCAA wrestling champ Anthony Robles takes home two ESPY awards.
Robles, who was born without a right leg, won the 2010-2011 NCAA 125lb. wrestling championship. The national championship capped off an undefeated 2010 campaign that saw Robles go 36-0 for Arizona State. Robles beat the defending national champ, Iowa’s Matt McDonough, 7-0 in the finals to take home the title.
The Jimmy V Award is named for Jim “Jimmy V” Valvano, the North Carolina State basketball coach who gave a moving speech at the first ESPY Awards in 1993 weeks before he died of bone cancer at age 47. The winner is a “member of the sporting world who has overcome great obstacles through physical perseverance and determination.”
He won “Best Athlete” by winning an online vote of sports fans. Robles surpassed fellow nominees Chris Devlin-Young, Jerome Singleton, Aaron Scheidies, and Steve Wampler in the category.
Video of Robles’ acceptance speech below:
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