Martin Iosefo (born January 13, 1990) is an American rugby union player who previously played several seasons with the

United States national rugby sevens team The United States national rugby sevens team competes in international rugby sevens competitions. The national sevens team is organized by USA Rugby, and the team has been led by Head Coach Mike Friday since 2014. The main competition the tea ...

. He now plays for the

Seattle Seawolves The Seattle Seawolves are an American professional rugby union team based in Tukwila, Washington. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby (MLR), the top-level rugby union competition in the United States that began play i ...

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Of ...

(MLR).

Early life

Iosefo grew up in

Wahiawa Wahiawa ( haw, Wahiawā, ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States, on the island of Oahu. It is in the Wahiawa District, on the plateau or "central valley" between the two volcanic mountains that comprise the ...

on the island of Oahu in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

where he learned to play rugby. Between the ages of 4 and 15 he lived in Samoa with his brother and father. After finishing Leilehua High School in Wahiawa, he went to the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

to play wide receiver in

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

as a walk-on. Iosefo started playing rugby competitively while in

Missoula, Montana Missoula ( ; fla, label= Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County. It is located along the Clark Fork Ri ...

with the University of Montana Jesters. Iosefo played with the Men's Collegiate All-Americans at the 2014 Serevi RugbyTown Sevens. Iosefo played with the Denver Barbarians at the 2015 Club 7s Nationals. Iosefo has been recognized for his size and athleticism, as well as for his hard hits at defense as a centre.

U.S. national rugby sevens team

Iosefo debuted with the U.S. national rugby sevens team at the

2014 Dubai Sevens The 2014 Dubai Sevens was the second tournament within the 2014-2015 Sevens World Series. It was held over the weekend of 5–6 December 2014 at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Format The teams are drawn into four pools of fou ...

. Iosefo missed the

2015 Hong Kong Sevens The 2015 Hong Kong Sevens was the 40th edition of the Hong Kong Sevens and the sixth tournament of the 2014–15 Sevens World Series. Format As in the last tournament, there will be a main draw with the fifteen World Series core teams and one i ...

and the

2015 Japan Sevens The 2015 Japan Sevens was held on 4–5 April 2015. It was the fourth edition of the tournament and the seventh instalment of the 2014–15 Sevens World Series The 2014–15 Sevens World Series, known for sponsorship reasons as the HSBC Sevens ...

due to school commitments, but rejoined the team for the

2015 London Sevens The 2015 London Sevens was the ninth and final tournament within the 2014–15 Sevens World Series. This edition of the London Sevens was held over the weekend of 16–17 May 2015 at Twickenham in London. The most notable headline from this event ...

. Iosefo was part of the U.S. team that won bronze at the

2015 Pan Am Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak albu ...

. Iosefo also played for the U.S. at the

2015 NACRA Sevens The 2015 NACRA Sevens was an Olympic qualification tournament for Rugby sevens at the 2016 Summer Olympics held in the United States at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina on 13–14 June 2015. The teams were split into two groups. The top ...

where the United States beat

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

in the final 21–5 to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Iosefo made the "dream team" for the

2016 Canada Sevens The 2016 Canada Sevens is the first edition of the Canada Sevens tournament, and the sixth tournament of the 2015–16 World Rugby Sevens Series. The tournament was played on 12–13 March 2016 at BC Place BC Place is a multi-purpose stadium ...

."Iosefo Makes Vancouver Dream Team, Hong Kong Draw"
This Is American Rugby, March 15, 2016. At the

2016 London Sevens The 2016 London Sevens was the tenth and final tournament within the 2015–16 World Rugby Sevens Series. This edition of the London Sevens was held over the weekend of 21–22 May 2016 at Twickenham in London. Format The teams were drawn into ...

, Iosefo scored a try 11 seconds into the match against Fiji, one of the fastest tries in the World Series. Iosefo played for the U.S. at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, where the team finished in ninth place.

Career statistics

As of the end of 2021, Iosefo was ranked among the top U.S. players for statistics on the World Rugby Sevens Series:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iosefo, Martin American rugby union players People from Hawaii 1990 births Living people Pan American Games medalists in rugby sevens Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Rugby sevens players at the 2015 Pan American Games Montana Grizzlies football players United States international rugby union players Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Rugby sevens players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic rugby sevens players of the United States Rugby union centres Rugby union wings Seattle Seawolves players