Martinez has eye on ultimate wrestling goals

UW photo
Wyoming redshirt freshman Michael Martinez, left, works out in a recent practice.

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Michael Martinez isn’t afraid to set lofty goals. He wants to win, period, and that means a NCAA title, followed by Olympic dreams.

“I’m just going to plug away and do as well as I can; try to keep from losing,” said Martinez, the Wyoming 125-pounder. “I’ll take what I know and try to win. I hate losing. You think about the times you have lost, and I don’t want to ever be in that position again, and even if I am, I have to learn from it because I don’t plan on stopping until I win.”

Martinez and the rest of the Cowboys will look to begin their home slate with that winning mindset, as they host Stanford Friday night at 5 p.m. in the UniWyo Sports Complex, and then the annual Cowboy Open Saturday in the War Memorial Fieldhouse.

Martinez, at the age of 22, isn’t your ordinary redshirt freshman. After winning a couple of high school state titles in Colorado, Martinez went to Tennessee to wrestle for legendary coach Terry Brands. As it turned out, he didn’t enroll at Tennessee to establish residency, but after a year, Brands left to become the U.S. coach at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Martinez followed Brands to Colorado before enrolling at Wyoming, where he redshirted for the 2006-2007 season.

Martinez then left Wyoming for an Olympic redshirt season, which is allowed by the NCAA, to try to make the U.S. team. After a year of training at the Olympic Training Center, Martinez is back at Wyoming looking to pick up where he left off.

So far, so good, as Martinez is 7-0 on the young season, winning a pair of tournament titles.

Martinez said he took two redshirt years because he just wanted to get better. Although he didn’t make the U.S. team, the experience was one that he couldn’t pass up.

“Coach Brands and Coach (Kevin) Jackson were two unbelievable coaches, and any chance you get to wrestle for them, you should probably take it,” he said. “The experience is good because I have wrestled the best guys, so I kind of know that in order to win a national championship, I’m going to have to beat some of the best guys. There’s no doubt about that. Everybody gives you a different look. Freestyle and collegiate are different as well. On my feet, freestyle has helped me a lot. Even on the mat, just scrambling, has helped.”

Coming back to Wyoming to compete for the Cowboys and first-year coach Mark Branch also has Martinez excited.

“I like the way things are being run,” he said. “When I was here the first time, I liked coach (Steven) Suder, he was a great guy. But we’re working harder as a team, I think, and I like that.”

While he is still just a redshirt freshman, Martinez said his goal is not to just progressively get better and possibly close his career as a contender: He wants to win a NCAA title now.

“I’d love to win more than one. I think I have a shot now,” he said. “You could ask the worst wrestler in the world, and if they are competitive, they’ll tell you they have a shot, too. As far as I am concerned, everybody has a shot at it.”

Cowboys have busy weekend
Stanford (0-2, 0-1 Pac-10) dropped its season opener to No. 21 Navy, 27-11 last Saturday, then fell to Pac-10 opponent Cal State Bakersfield, 28-13.

Stanford placed 19th at the 2008 NCAA Championship and returns three national qualifiers off that team for 2008-09: junior Zack Giesen (184), senior Luke Feist (174) and sophomore Luke Espericueta (149). Feist is expected to wrestle at heavyweight against the Cowboys, while Espericueta should compete at 157. Giesen has yet to wrestle this year. Stanford’s new head coach is Jason Borrelli.

The last time Wyoming and Stanford met on the wrestling mat was Jan. 4, 2003, at the Lone Star Duals in Grand Prairie, Texas. The Cowboys defeated the Cardinal by a score of 33-6, losing only two of 10 matches.

“As our season progresses, the competition will get tougher and our guys will have to be prepared to go hard for seven minutes against Stanford,” Branch said. “They have some experience and are in a similar situation, with a new head coach. Their team will be eager to wrestle well.

“I expect us to come out with an aggressive style, just as we’ve been working on in practice. The guys are fired up to show everyone how hard they’ve been working.”

A long-time Wyoming tradition will continue on Saturday with the 36th annual Cowboy Open tournament.

“The Cowboy Open will give our team a good test and will be an indicator as to what kind of strides we still need to make,” said Branch. “There are a good number of Division I schools competing, several other Western Wrestling Conference teams and some ranked individuals, so that should make for an exciting tournament.”

Over 20 collegiate teams are expected to bring competitors and NCAA DI schools that will bring full squads include Air Force, No. 14 Boise State, Northern Colorado, Stanford, Utah Valley and Wyoming. Event officials are anticipating nearly 400 individuals will compete.

Mat notes: Ticket prices for the Stanford dual are $5 for adults and $3 for kids 18 and younger, while UW students are free with a valid ID. In a special promotion, a ticket for the Cowboy basketball game against Cal State Bakersfield will gain the holder free admission to the wrestling dual, while a wrestling ticket will earn fans $5 off an upper level basketball for Friday night … Tournament tickets are good for the entire day and are $10 for adults, $5 for youth 18 and younger. UW students can watch the event free with a valid ID …Cowboy Open results can be followed on TrackWrestling.com and matches are scheduled to begin on nine mats at 9 a.m., running all day through the finals on Saturday evening.