Anthony Robles

Anthony Robles (born July 15, 1988) is an American wrestler who won the 2011 NCAA individual wrestling national championship in the 125-pound weight class, despite being born with only one leg. He is the author of the book Unstoppable: From Underdog to Undefeated: How I Became a Champion (Gotham Books), which was published in September 2012.

Youth Robles was born with only one leg for unknown reasons, but refused to wear a prosthetic leg, removing it at the age of 3. Due to his leg missing all the way up to the hip, he has no stump to attach a prosthetic limb to. He endeavored to work around his missing leg, strengthening his body with various exercises. When Robles was in the sixth grade, he set a record for the most pushups by a member of his school. disadvantaged by being 10 pounds underweight for his weight class. Robles benefited, however, from tremendous grip strength from his use of crutches. After intensive training, Robles found that he could use his unusually high center of gravity to defend against attack, and became skilled at several offensive moves including one he created. In his second year, Robles was ranked sixth in Arizona. His junior and senior years, Robles went 96–0 and won two Arizona state championships. Robles also won a national championship as a senior, and finished his high school wrestling career with a record of 129–15.

Arizona State Despite Robles' great high school success, none of his top choices for college—Iowa, Oklahoma State, and Cornell—recruited him. Robles redshirted as a freshman at Arizona State University, and finished 6th in the 2006 FILA Junior World Championships in the 55 kg Freestyle Wrestling category. becoming a three-time Pac-10 champion (defeating Jason Lara from Oregon State in the final, ) and a national champion, defeating the defending 125-pound NCAA Champion, Iowa's Matt McDonough, 7–1 in the final. For his efforts, Robles was voted the Tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler.

The 5'8" Robles concluded his Arizona State wrestling career with a record of 122–23, a three-time Pac-10 wrestling champion as well as a three-time All-American. Robles ranks 8th for most match wins by an Arizona State wrestler. "My spirit is unconquerable... I don't care what's probable. Through blood, sweat, and tears, I am unstoppable." is the quote from Robles's book Unstoppable that he says is the overall message of the book.

Robles has been a commentator of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships since 2012.

Robles set the world record for most pull-ups in one minute, with 62, at halftime of a New York Jets game in November 2018.

He married Laura Robles in late 2021; they have a son who was born on December 28, 2022. In 2022, he began to work as the wrestling coach for his high school Alma Mater at Mesa High. He held this position for 2 years.

Movie In March 2023, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's production company Artists Equity announced in partnership with Amazon MGM Studios that they would produce a biopic based on Robles's book, both of which are titled Unstoppable, with Jharrel Jerome and Jennifer Lopez slated to portray Robles and his mother Judy, respectively. The movie was released at the Toronto International Film festival, TIFF, September 6, 2024 and in the United States, December 6, 2024. It won 9 awards at various film festivals including "Tribute Performer award" at TIFF. Critics on the Rotten tomatoes website are 77% positive regarding the film.

Awards and honors In January 2012, Robles was presented the 2011 Most Courageous Athlete Award by the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association.