Virginia Tech's Robie Donates Kidney to Father of All-American Wrestler
By Shannon Scovel
NCAA.com
Norm Latona, the father of two-time Hokie All-American Sam Latona, will always carry a part of Virginia Tech wrestling with him. Literally.
The Hokies sports information department announced on May 7, 2025 that Norm underwent a kidney transplant following prolonged health troubles. The donor? None other than Virginia Tech head wrestling coach Tony Robie.
Latona was honored as an Outstanding American by the Alabama Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2022 while Robie received the Lifetime Service to Wrestling award from the Virginia Chapter of the Hall of Fame in 2022.
For Norm, this transplant marked the end of a tumultuous, emotional journey that began in January 2022 and involved multiple different forms of dialysis treatment, all of which required laborious processes and machines to serve in the place of his kidney. With the help of a selfless act from Robie, Norm is now healthy again, a reality that his son Sam can only describe as a “pretty incredible, very surreal” medical miracle.
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