Isaiah Alexander Martinez (born September 2, 1994) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

freestyle wrestler Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling. It is one of two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games, along with Greco-Roman wrestling, Greco-Roman. scholastic wrestling, High school wrestling and men's collegiate wrestling in the U ...

and graduated folkstyle wrestler who competes at 79 kilograms. In freestyle, Martinez is a two-time US Open National champion (three-time finalist) and was the 2017 US U23 World Team Member. As a folkstyle wrestler, he was a two-time NCAA Division I National champion (four-time finalist) and a four-time

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

champion.

Folkstyle

High school

Martinez was born and raised in

Lemoore, California Lemoore (formerly La Tache and Lee Moore's) is a city in Kings County, California, United States. Lemoore is located west-southwest of Hanford, at an elevation of . It is part of the Hanford-Corcoran Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA Code 252 ...

. He started

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

at a young age and became a three-time

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champion and four-time placer with a 205–7 record as a high schooler at Lemoore High School.

University

Martinez attended the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

to wrestle as a collegiate athlete.

2013–2014

''Redshirt''; Compiled a 13–2 record during the season (7–0 at open tournaments) and placed fourth at Midlands.

2014–2015

Freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

''; Midlands and Roadrunner Open undefeated champion during regular season. Won the

and the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

championship with notable wins over Dylan Ness, James Green, Nick Brascetta and Brian Realbuto, being the first one to win the championship as an undefeated

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

since

Cael Sanderson Cael Norman Sanderson ( ; born June 20, 1979) is an American former folkstyle and freestyle wrestler who is the current head coach of Penn State's wrestling team. As a wrestler, he won an Olympic gold medal and was undefeated in four years of ...

(99').

2015–2016

Sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

''; Posted a 17–1 record at duals with lone loss to future three-time NCAA champion

Jason Nolf Jason Michael Nolf (born January 10, 1996) is an American freestyle and former folkstyle wrestler who competes at 74 kilograms. In freestyle, he is a three-time U.S. national champion and a multiple-time medalist in international tournaments. ...

and became the Reno TOC champion during regular season. Won the

title while avenging his regular season's loss to

. At the NCAA's, he defeated #3 ranked Ian Miller and top-ranked

for the second time to claim the championship.

2016–2017

''Junior;'' Bumped up a weight class and competed at 165 pounds. He became the UNI Open & Midlands champion and compiled an 11–0 record at duals, ending regular season unbeaten. Became a three-time

champion and entered as the top-seeded wrestler at the

NCAA championships The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and 1 in Canada. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and helps ...

. At the tournament, he made his way to the finale in where he faced Vincenzo Joseph, whom he was 2-0 prior to the match. He lost by

fall Autumn, also known as fall (especially in US & Canada), is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southern Hemispher ...

and claimed runner-up honors.

2017–2018

Senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

;'' Compiled a record of 11–0 at dual matches in regular season. Became the sixteenth wrestler to ever win four

championships when he beat Vincenzo Joseph at the finale of the tournament, also entering as the top-ranked seed at the

. He defeated four opponents on his way to the finale, in which he faced Vincenzo Joseph for the fifth time in their collegiate career and lost for the second time, claiming once again runner-up honors. Overall, Martinez is a two-time NCAA champion, four-time NCAA finalist, and four-time

champion, which makes him the most accomplished

Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The university operates a number of athletic fac ...

in the history of the wrestling team.

Freestyle

Junior

As a youth level

wrestler Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves diffe ...

, Martinez was a Junior National

runner-up {{Short pages monitor