The program was a consistent winner before Dan Robbins became the head coach of the Maple River wrestling program. When Robbins took the head job before the 2013 season, he kept the program rolling. They have only had one losing season since Robbins took over. In the last two seasons, the program has won a total of 37 dual meets. How have the Eagles done it? They have done it by being ready to go the second they put their toe on the line.
Robbins was raised in a wrestling hotbed and was exposed to the sport by a young man placed in charge of the future coach.
“I grew up in Blue Earth, and we had a good wrestling following,” Robbins said. “I had a babysitter who was a wrestler, and he got me into it when I was five or six years old. We went to the same church also; he would talk to me about it. When he was baby-sitting, sometimes he would show me a double leg or a stand-up or something. I kept going from there.”
With the help of his babysitter, Robbins started in on a life-long career in wrestling.