Council Rock North’s Cameron Robinson thrives in the wrestling spotlight

Cameron Robinson is a crowd pleaser, says Tom Vivacqua, his wrestling coach at Council Rock North.

It’s not unusual for Vivacqua to show Robinson a move once, and Robinson masters it to use in one of his next matches. It’s also not unusual for Vivacqua to watch Robinson do something completely on his own.

“When he’s at a tournament and Cameron’s up, everyone wants to see Cameron and what he’s going to do,” said Vivacqua, in his 20th year as coach. “Is he going to do some big throw or crazy little move? I call him the crowd pleaser.”

Robinson, a junior wrestler for the Indians, has put himself on the map with a solid freshman year, amassing a 35-11 record and an even better sophomore year, tallying a 38-7 record while winning the District 1 title, regional title, and placing fifth in the PIAA Class 3A bracket, all at 138 pounds.

With numerous colleges after Robinson, such as Iowa State, West Virginia, North Carolina State, and Pittsburgh to name a few, the attention started with FLOWrestling, an organization that videos wrestlers for coaches not able to attend matches. Robinson’s name took off on FLOWrestling while participating in the Powerade Wrestling Tournament in Canonsburg, Pa., just south of Pittsburgh back in December. Robinson placed fourth in one of the tougher tournaments in the country at 145 pounds.

Being the center of attention has been the norm for Robinson when he’s been wrestling. He described himself as social, which has allowed him to welcome the spotlight.

“I do a lot of weird stuff when I’m on the mat,” Robinson said. “I’m always moving, always jumping around. I just kind of put on a show. A lot of people tell me that they like to watch me wrestle. I think just going out there and being myself.”

It wasn’t always easy for Robinson, who struggled with a certain position early in his career in middle school, and even as a freshman.

Robinson felt more comfortable wrestling on his feet. His weakness was wrestling on bottom.

“I was not trying to go underneath these big strong kids that are older than me and can get on top and start cranking on me,” he said.

So, in each round, wrestlers have a choice to wrestle bottom, top, or neutral, which is on your feet. Vivacqua would make the decision for Robinson.

“I knew that’s what he needed work on,” Vivacqua said. “If you want to be the state champ, you have to get off bottom.”

Now, as Robinson has a 26-4 record this season at 145 pounds, he has improved greatly wrestling from the bottom.

“After [freshman] year, I don’t think anyone can hold me on bottom,” he said.

As the Council Rock North team embarks on a two-week break from matches, Robinson is gearing up for the postseason, and the next match he wins will be the 100th of his career. He plans on making his college decision by the end of the school year.

For someone who didn’t like the bottom, the star wrestler is looking to make his way to the top of the podium in Hershey come March.

“I was a kid that didn’t peak that early, that always had something there, and slowly but surely, I’m climbing,” Robinson said.