The Open Mat presents awards annually in three categories for each division of college wrestling at the conclusion of the season. Awards are presented for Freshman of the Year, Coach of the Year and Wrestler of the Year.

As a high school wrestler, Vince Robinson never finished his season on top of the podium at the state tournament.

The Chicago native fell twice in the Illinois state finals.

Despite failing to reach the top of the podium in high school, Robinson became a freshman national champion at North Carolina State, winning the 2025 NCAA title at 125 pounds.

Robinson was announced as the 2025 NCAA Division I Freshman of the Year by The Open Mat on Tuesday.

After redshirting during the 2023-24 season, Robinson was expected to be in a lineup battle with teammate Jakob Camacho for the starting spot at 125 pounds for NC State. But Robinson took control of the starting spot early in the season. He opened his season by winning a title at Battle at The Citadel. The following weekend, Robinson defeated three ranked wrestlers en route to winning a title at the Collegiate Classic, which earned him ACC Wrestler of the Week honors.

In December, Robinson reached the quarterfinals of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational at 125 pounds before medically forfeiting out of the competition. He then reeled off five consecutive wins in dual meet competition before dropping his final match of the regular season to Virginia Tech's Eddie Ventresca.

Robinson reached the finals of the 2025 ACC Wrestling Championships before falling to Ventresca for the second time in less than three weeks.

He entered the 2025 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Philadelphia as the No. 4 seed at 125 pounds. Robinson opened with a major decision before getting a 6-4 win to secure a spot in the NCAA quarterfinals. He then defeated Dean Peterson of Rutgers (now Iowa) 6-4 in the quarterfinals. He punched his ticket to the NCAA finals with a 4-2 semifinal win over Lehigh's Sheldon Seymour. Robinson capped off his championship run with a 2-1 tiebreaker victory over Oklahoma State's Troy Spratley in the NCAA finals.

Robinson became the first freshman to win an NCAA Division I national title at 125 pounds since Spencer Lee of Iowa in 2018. He finished the season with a 24-3 record, which included a 9-1 mark in duals.