Chazz Robinson doesn’t remember a time when wrestling wasn’t an important part of his life.
Homewood-Flossmoor’s sophomore 120-pounder comes from a family of successful grapplers. His older brother, Vincent, a 2023 Vikings grad, is currently the No. 3 ranked 125-pounder in college wrestling at North Carolina State. Jaydon is a freshman with the Wolfpack, too. Older brother Travis Ford-Melton was a Division I wrestler at Purdue.
His father, Vasil Robinson, is an assistant coach for H-F. His sister Faythe is a student manager. His cousin, RJ Robinson III, is a senior for the Vikings, too.
“What motivates me most is my brothers. Vincent, Jaydon, Travis,” Robinson said. “They know I’m going to be the best out of all of them.”
Coach Jim Sokoloski remembers seeing Vincent Robinson wrestling in the state tournament when he was a freshman at Marian. The family would later decide to send the kids to H-F and begin a legacy that now rests with Chazz.
“They’re synonymous with H-F wrestling. They’re always a spark,” Sokoloski said. “We had a bad round two of regionals and I took Chazz aside. I told him I don’t like to compare brothers because that’s not fair, but this is where Vincent would’ve taken these guys and he would’ve been like, ‘We need to do better.’”
Robinson did exactly that, Sokoloski said, and the Vikings sent nine wrestlers to the sectional, five of whom will move on to wrestle for a state title in Champaign on Feb. 20 through 22.
Individually, Robinson was SouthWest Suburban Conference, regional and sectional champion at 120 pounds. He cruised through those brackets, winning mostly by pin or major decision. His record is now 37-5.
“I just love taking people down, cutting them, staying on them and breaking them,” he said.
To win all three of those titles, Robinson beat Andrew junior Nadeem Haleem, a three-time state qualifier.
“I knew the third time, I was going to win. I was just going out there to have fun and do me,” Robinson said. “Just keep scoring. Like my dad said, get to my attacks. Don’t sit back. Don’t wait.”
Finding a way onto the podium isn’t enough for Robinson at state. H-F looked at the bracket and thinks there may be a path to make some history.
“That’s an expectation, at this point. It’s not the podium. It’s how high,” Sokoloski said. “We fully expect Chazz to be in a high odd number, whatever it may be.”
Robinson’s been there before. This time, it won’t be to cheer anybody else on, though. He’ll be making his own memories.
“I talk to (my brothers) every day. They told me this weekend just go out there, have fun, take it one match at a time, don’t worry about nobody else and just do me,” Robinson said.
H-F sends five to Champaign
The Vikings will send five wrestlers to the state meet. In addition to Robinson, Davion Henry (106 pounds), Ethan Hamilton (113), Jovan Vukajlovic (157) and RJ Robinson (175) will head to Champaign. Sokoloski thinks Xavier Pratt could’ve been a sixth, had he not suffered an injury during the football season.
Five ties the total H-F sent to state two years ago for the most in Sokoloski’s 18 seasons. He thinks the system is set up to sustain that kind of success. The kids club is growing, and more Vikings are becoming year-round wrestlers.
“We had four wrestlers in the regional and, in theory, we would’ve had five had we had Xavier Pratt,” Sokoloski said. “You replace seniors with freshmen, and you’ve got guys for four years. The future is obviously bright.”
