Jan. 22--As a redshirt freshman last season, Illinois wrestler Isaiah Martinez won the 157-pound NCAA championship and the Big Ten championship while becoming the first freshman to record an undefeated season since 1999.
His goal is to become the sport's best ever.
But he's not on a solo mission.
Martinez's stepfather Alfred Garcia -- his first wrestling coach, his confidant, the only dad he knew -- died of cancer in October, but Martinez does not feel like he is working on his goals alone.
"We were so bought into this sport," Martinez said. "Most of my memories growing up were traveling to tournaments with him, coming home from practices and doing technique for hours. You grow up and look back and it makes you smile. It isn't just me."
But Martinez, for the first time, is navigating the sport without his mentor's presence. Garcia's no longer a phone call away offering a scouting report on an upcoming opponent or lending encouragement.
Martinez, who with the Illini takes on No. 1 Penn State at Huff Hall on Saturday, has not faltered despite an emotional year and the pressure of being one of the sport's dominant forces.
"He had own way of dealing with it," Illinois coach Jim Heffernan said. "He misses that relationship but they had so many plans in wrestling and goals and now it's almost a motivational thing. He wants to meet and exceed those expectations."
Martinez began wrestling in an effort by his parents to release some of his hyper 4-year-old energy. He was hooked immediately, dreaming of Olympic gold and enjoying his first undefeated season at age 5.
Although Garcia never wrestled, he saw the sport as an opportunity for his son.
After practices, the two would clear space in the living room and work on technique despite Garcia's 4:30 a.m. wake-up alarm for work at a mill. They would rise at 5:30 a.m. on Saturdays to drive to distant tournaments.
"I grew up in kind of a small lower-income Hispanic community," Martinez said. "Both my parents never went to college. He knew (wrestling) was essentially something that could change my life."
As Martinez rose through the ranks of high school wrestling in California, where he won three state championships at Lemoore High, Garcia let the coaches handle his son's talent. But he always was scouting, always advising and never pushing.
"When you think about parents and a kid who specializes in a sport, you imagine they get upset with a kid when they lose," Martinez said. "He never screamed at me or got upset when I lost. It was, 'You gave it your best effort and I'm proud of you.'"
As Martinez's winning streak mounted at Illinois last season, Garcia hedged on revealing his diagnoses to him, worrying the news would derail his focus. After a couple of months, in September 2014, he told Martinez he had Stage IV liver and colon cancer over the phone.
"I was worried," Martinez said, "but at the same time, we were so committed and so bought in to being the best in the country and winning a national title, he would tell me we have no control over (cancer)."
Wrestling? Now that, they could control.
Martinez knew his window for a championship during Garcia's lifetime could be closing.
"That was one of the first things that went through my mind," Martinez said. "Just giving him the opportunity to see the fruition of the labors we went through."
While receiving chemotherapy, Garcia flew to St. Louis to watch the national championships, where Martinez defeated Cornell's Brian Realbuto for the title on March 21.
"There's nothing that would've stopped him from being there," said Yvonne Martinez-Garcia, Isaiah's mom.
After Martinez won, he met his dad for a long embrace.
"I ran up to him," Martinez said. "He was right there on the lower level and I hugged him and said, 'We did it.' I think he thought it was special."
Garcia continued to work at the mill through his treatment, but his condition deteriorated quickly last fall. They never had heard the word terminal, Yvonne said.
Even then he was thinking about Martinez's wrestling, about their goals.
"As he was going through treatment, he would watch that (championship) match over and over and over again (on video)," Yvonne said. "He was looking forward to this upcoming season. That was what he was thriving off of, especially toward the end."
The two had a phone conversation in Garcia's final days that Martinez said he preferred to keep private. But he smiled and noted that it "absolutely" involved wrestling.
After Garcia died at 43 on Oct. 29, 2015, training took a back seat to mourning.
But soon Martinez understood he had to keep fighting. It was what the two had planned.
"Our end goal is to be the best in the world at my craft," he said. "The end goal is winning but winning in a fashion that no one ever has seen. That's what drives me, not being the best for now but being the best who ever has stepped on the mat."
Martinez is chasing another undefeated season and the record of former Iowa State star Cael Sanderson who won 159 straight matches.
Sanderson now coaches top-ranked Penn State and will be at the showdown at No. 13 Illinois when No. 1-ranked Martinez is likely to face No. 3 Jason Nolf, a redshirt freshman. Martinez is 19-0 this season at 157 pounds while Nolf is 20-0.
"Obviously, (Nolf's) a gamer and he'll be at his best," Sanderson told PennLive.com. "Martinez is obviously a gamer, too, and he'll be at his best. That's a big match and we're excited to see where Nolf is with him."
Even with a target on his singlet, Martinez thrives.
"He thrives off it," Heffernan said. "His athleticism is like I've never seen. He's unbelievably strong, has great speed, huge lung capacity. He has trained himself so he doesn't get tired. He has an inner confidence. He's a rare breed."
He's working on a mission designed by two.
sryan@tribpub.com
