Lemoore's Isaiah Martinez continues his title streak with second straight NCAA wrestling championship in New York City

When you wrestle in “The Garden” you also deal with the “experience,” the frenzy, and the pressure as the lights dim and thousands of wrestling fans begin cheering when your name is announced. But this talented athlete handled the pressure well, and it paid off.

It was in this arena, before a boisterous and packed Garden Saturday night that a 157-pound wrestler from Lemoore, California won his second straight NCAA championship.

Isaiah Martinez, a 3-time California State Wrestling champ made it 5 championships in a row – the 3 California titles and now two NCAA championships. Not bad for a kid from Lemoore who just months ago lost his stepfather, Alfred Garcia, to cancer, but Martinez told his father he would win another one, and he did.

Martinez (32-1), in perhaps the toughest match of his storied career, edged Penn State freshman Jason Nolf (33-2) 6-5 when he scored a 2-point takedown with just 10 seconds left in the match. He took a 6-4 lead and with just a second or two left, allowed Nolf a 1-point escape to account for the final tally.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWviCNgs7us“I have an amazing coaching staff, family and friends,” said Martinez, just moments after his victory. “They love me and support me and I’d be nowhere without them. I’m so grateful for them. I told my dad at the beginning of the season that I was going to win a national title, and so I did it again. I never doubted it.”

His family and friends were in attendance, including his high school coach, Marcio Botelho, who coached Martinez to three California state wrestling championships. Botelho was in New York City for the entire tournament and watched his protégé cruise to the finals, where he once again found himself on the mat with the only guy to defeat him during his 2-year college career.

Nolf beat Martinez during a Big Ten Conference dual meet in January. It ended Martinez’s 54-match winning streak. However, at the Big Ten Conference finals, Martinez won the conference championship via a double overtime win over Nolf, the Penn State wrestler’s first collegiate loss.

To earn a spot in the finals, Martinez beat Virginia Tech’s Nick Brascetta 6-3 in the quarterfinals and earned a 7-5 win over Kent State’s Ian Miller in the semifinals.

Martinez scored first in the opening 3-minute period, on a takedown for a 2-0 lead. But Nolf escaped to cut the gap to 2-1 and then scored himself on a takedown to take a 3-2 lead before Martinez, with just 2 seconds left, scored on an escape and emerged from the first period tied 3-3.

In the second period, the wrestlers were deadlocked until Martinez scored for a 4-3 advantage.

Finally, in the deciding final moments, Nolf scored on an escape to tie the match at 4-4, and in a dramatic turn of events, Martinez took Nolf to the mat for a takedown and a 6-4 advantage to win the championship.