Robert Kinloch was a teacher and coach at his alma mater, Central High School, from the fall of 1962 until retiring from coaching in 2018.

He made his mark mostly on wrestling by starting the Central program and helping other city schools launch their wrestling programs. A number of Central wrestlers went on to qualify for state over the years.

His love for the sport was even rewarded when Springfield Public Schools named its annual holiday wrestling tournament the Kinloch Classic.

Additionally, he coached football, track and baseball early on, dropping football in 1978. He also coached golf for 40 years.

Kinloch played football at Missouri State University and Friends University in the early 1950s.

He later played baseball and wrestled in the U.S. Army Special Services, and also played one year in the Baltimore Orioles farm system. He later played AAA fastpitch softball, helping teams to world tournaments in 1955 and 1956.