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NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP

March 19, 2016

Isaiah Martinez

New York, New York

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by 157-pound champion Isaiah Martinez from Illinois. We'll give you a chance to make a statement about your match tonight.

ISAIAH MARTINEZ: Wow. I'm extremely pleased just with the win, especially a competitor like that. He's definitely special. And he gave me a hell of a fight. And I just knew if it came down to the end that I was going to get it done. And looked up at the clock with, like, maybe 20 seconds to go. Coach is screaming, go get one. And I said I need to do this right now to seal up the match. And thank God I got my head through the hold, got enough to get the takedown.

Q. In the first period, there were some pretty wild scrambles and throws and you almost landed on your back. Could you tell us what was going through your mind especially because of your earlier loss to him this season?
ISAIAH MARTINEZ: I was just trusting in my athleticism. The hip-over position, that barrel roll on my hard like side car wheel, it's something I've been doing since I was real young. So I have a lot of confidence in that position. Even if it looks like I'm going to my back, I feel like I have really good core strength, so I'm able to pull myself over so that's how I got out. I missed the first one. He almost put me on my back when the game got away with, like, ten seconds ago. We've been doing that since I was young.

Q. On the takedown, you tried like I think to duck under prior to it it didn't work then you were able to score, why wasn't that able then? And number two, Mark Perry was a funk master at Iowa. Are you developing some of the funk? Is that what we're seeing?
ISAIAH MARTINEZ: First, that duck, it works better when guys are chasing me and they're tired. So he was really coming after me, elbows open, elbows open. And I pulled on one side and went to that side I pulled on, he fell right down on his face and I just covered him. So that -- it's kind of harder to get at the beginning of the match. It's more of a duck step and lift. But as the match progresses the guy gets a little more worn out. It's a duck, guy falls on his face, I just cover.

Q. The funk. Looks like you're developing more funk now?
ISAIAH MARTINEZ: No, that's exactly the opposite of what my coaches want me to do. Because I'm a power guy, power wrestler. I need to have my feet on the mat to build power and I just gotta have my feet on the mat to use my core strength. They don't want me to funk. They think I have really heavy hips and I could just use my upper body strength and that I should just be basic with my defense.

Q. With everything you've gone through kind of in the past since the last year's finals, how does this one feel?
ISAIAH MARTINEZ: It feels good. Just dealing with all the adversity, I mean, Mark talked about this a lot and my coaches talk about it a lot, they know just kind of what I had to go through. It wasn't just the loss of my father. There was a lot of things that happened this year that were bumps in the road. I try not to disclose those things too much because I don't like making excuses for myself. But it was tough this year. It was hard dealing with a lot of adversity. But I'm glad I stuck with it and got the job done this year.

Q. With this win you qualify for the Olympic Trials, are you planning to go up to Iowa City and talk about that part of your wrestling?
ISAIAH MARTINEZ: We'll see. I'm not sure. But I can tell you one thing, whatever weight I go, I'm going to win. So I'm not going for the experience. If I'm going to go I'm going to train myself the right way, and whatever weight that is I'm going to go to win. But I'm not sure if I'm going to go -- I have to evaluate where my body is at health wise, where my mind's at, my motivation, my heart. We'll know soon.

Q. First off, was this anti-climatic? Were you ready to go the distance, like the Big Ten final? You won this one in regulation. You guys were in a marathon in the Big Ten finals. Was it not anti-climatic?
ISAIAH MARTINEZ: No, the mind is ready to go as far as it needs to to get the job done. That's my mentality going in. The kind of competitor he is -- he's a hard nosed guy; he's got a great gas tank. But I just believed in my heart and my will, and before I stepped out there, I told myself that I just -- like I tell myself every time I get up for a big match, it doesn't matter how far we have to go or how far I have to go, I know I'm going to get the job done.

Q. Last year people were actually comparing you to Cael Sanderson because you were undefeated when you won it as a freshman. Did the loss to Nolf actually almost help you deal with this pressure or anything that you might have felt?
ISAIAH MARTINEZ: I don't think so. My coaches know I have really high standards for myself. So external pressures, it's what you make it. The thing that I feel most is my internal drive and that's kind of what pushes me and drives me. And I really don't -- I don't know. The outside stuff doesn't really bother me. It's always about my internal drive and that's what kind of drives me crazy sometimes, but it motivates me to hold a standard that I don't want to win by one or two points. I'm happy I won. It's just now I've got to think of ways to widen the gap. And I know he's going to be great at wherever he goes, but I'm, again, always, always trying to work to get better. So that's kind of just how I think about winning by a takedown at the end.

Q. You guys are pushing for 10, 15 seconds. It almost seemed like it was heading towards overtime. You were confident you were going to get your position and be able to get your 2, what was going through your mind at that point?
ISAIAH MARTINEZ: The way he was driving into me, I just felt it. I think my coaches saw this: When it got to about 30 seconds to go I was towards the out-of-bounds line, and I really started picking my hand up, digging inside, pulling, pulling, and digging. And as the clock started ticking down, he was reaching because I was slapping his hands down real hard. And I just felt it right away, pulled it and ducked. But yeah, I was confident that if we went to overtime I was ready. I was prepared. My lungs felt good. My body felt good.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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