Port Robertson

Port Robertson was a long time molder of discipline for the University of Oklahoma's athletic department. His contact with thousands of athletes as a varsity wrestling coach, head freshman football coach and guidance counselor.

Robertson began coaching at OU in 1946. After struggling to put a full team together for the first few years, his fourth OU wrestling team finished 6-3 and won the Big Seven Conference championship in 1950.

His Sooners went 9-0 in 1951, breaking the 72 straight wins of Oklahoma A&M and became upset winners of the National Collegiate tournament. He produced three NCAA championship teams and three national runners-up, establishing the Sooners as a national power. His wrestlers captured 15 individual NCAA titles and five outstanding wrestler awards.

In 1957, his team pinned 11 in the national meet and scored 39 falls in their last eight NCAA tournaments, believed to be an all-time record. He was named the head coach of the American Olympic team in 1960 and coached the U.S. team to three gold medals, beating four champions, three of them Russians.

Robertson was the athletic department's sole contact with the general faculty regarding scholarship grades of all athletes in every sport, helping them stay eligible for competition. While he may not have been the most popular person at OU, the athletes realized his firm discipline showed how deep he cared for them as individuals and how he had helped develop them into trustworthy successful people.

He received the Merit Award from OU, described as, "a man of great modesty who probably had no idea he would devote almost 40 years of his life to student/athletes at the University of Oklahoma." His honors also include, president of the American Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association in 1958, inducted into the Helm's Coaching Hall of Fame in 1960, National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1976 and an OU distinguished service citation in 1976.

Port Robertson died in July, 2003.