'I'll be back' vows two-time NCAA champ after disappointing loss Saturday night

The nation’s top-ranked 165-pound wrestler, on Saturday night, before a packed house at the Scottrade Center, was pinned in the third period by Penn State’s No. 3-ranked redshirt freshman Vincenzo Joseph.

Despite the surprising loss, Martinez was upbeat. “Nobody leaves this game unscathed,” he said on his Twitter account Saturday night. “I’ll be back,” he vowed.

Had he survived Saturday night, he would have joined a select group of 27 three-time national champs. As it is, Martinez, a junior, still has that opportunity with a year remaining in college, and he suggested that he’ll be back in the finals in 2018 as an Illinois senior.

Martinez completed his junior season with a 31-1 record, his only blemish, his final match. He quickly scored a 2-point takedown early in the first period, but the score was knotted at 3-3 by the end of the period thanks to Joseph’s takedown of Martinez.

The two were tied at 5-5 at the end of two periods, then suddenly, with Joseph leading 6-5, Martinez found himself on his back and fell victim to a pin – and the loss of the national championship.

Martinez career mark is indeed impressive. During his three years at Illinois, he has compiled a 98-2 record, and prior to Saturday night, his only loss coming last year – at 157 pounds – to Penn State’s Jason Nolf during the regular season. Martinez defeated Nolf in the NCAA final last year, to win his second NCAA title.

Ironically, Nolf, wrestling at still at 157 pounds, won his first NCAA title, beating Missouri’s Joey Lavallee 14-6.