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After all he's been through during the last year, Felipe Martinez had this pledge for his Genoa wrestling teammates.
“For sure I will be at Genoa next year,” he said. “No doubt.”
Martinez, a junior who won two state titles at St. Paris Graham as a freshman and sophomore, transferred to Clay at the beginning of this school year before transferring to Genoa midway through the wrestling season.
Martinez finally dug in and acclimated himself to his new surroundings and got in wrestling shape. Last Saturday, he became the fifth Genoa wrestler to win a state championship when he captured the 152-pound title at the Division III state tournament in Columbus.
Martinez, who finished with a 19-0 record, beat previously unbeaten senior Dominic Prezzia (46-1), a two-time state placer from St. Clairsville, 9-5 in overtime in the state finals.
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| Felipe Martinez |
“I think this year means the most to me because of all the family stuff I've being going through and all the struggles this year,” Martinez said. “Missing half the season and winning my third state title, it means a lot to me and my family.”
Martinez, who owns a 99-2 career record, won D-II state titles at state-power Graham as a freshman and sophomore. He won the 130-pound title as a freshman and repeated at 140 a year ago. He said there wasn't much difference competing at the D-II and D-III levels.
“It was about the same,” he said. “One of our coaches said no matter what division you're in, every guy is going to have two arms and two legs and their goal is to beat you. It's not that big of a difference. The competition has been the same all year and Division III hasn't been that big of a change for me.”
Martinez pinned his first-round opponent in 4:27 and earned a 12-4 major decision in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Martinez narrowly beat returning state qualifier Zebulun Beam, a junior from Apple Creek Waynedale, 3-2, to reach the finals.
“My first match at state, all these guys were huge,” Martinez said. “I wouldn't have been at 152 to begin with. I should have been at 145, but I couldn't cut weight like I wanted to. I was small at 152 and all of the guys were playing defense, probably because I was a two-time state champ. All the guys at state were big and muscular and way stronger than me.”
Prezzia, who placed third at 145 last year, caught a break in the finals. He was awarded one point, tying the match, when Martinez was penalized for stalling with two seconds left in regulation.
“He got warned with about 30 seconds left, and then with two seconds left they nailed him,” Genoa coach Joe Ziebold said. “Down at state, it happens. Sometimes they call it more aggressive down there. It's a judgement call. In my eyes, no. In their eyes, yes. It was a good ref; he does a great job.”
Martinez said he thought the referee made the wrong call to penalize him for stalling.
“(Prezzia) took shots and I was in a front headlock and that's how they warned me,” he said. “He was taking two and three shots and I blocked him off. I'm not really sure why they called stalling. I think the ref was trying to make a difference. If I think it was a bad call or not, I still had the same mentality going into overtime. I didn't think I was going to lose.”
Ziebold called Martinez's state title “awesome.”
“The guy from St. Clairsville was a tough young man,” Ziebold said. “When you get a state champion, it's fantastic for the community and the student body.”
Martinez became Genoa's fifth individual state champ, joining Dan Tank (1980), Tony Lopez (1996), Nick Cianciola (1987, '88) and Nick Purdue (2006, '07).
“I plan to take two weeks off and then start lifting every day after school with Curt Reeder,” Martinez said. “After that, I'm going to start taking some wrestlers from Genoa and start practices with them. I'm really going to focus on helping those guys out and helping myself out by keeping myself in shape in the summer so I can be big enough at the weight I want to go at next year. I'll be a lot bigger and stronger next year.”
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