AWL I preview at 79 kg: Isaiah Martinez (Team Dake) vs. Alex Dieringer (Team Taylor)
Share:
by Andy Hamilton, TrackWrestling
It was a college dream matchup that sparked postseason chatter three years ago.
Isaiah Martinez burst onto the Division I scene by going 34-0 and winning the 157-pound national title in his freshman season at Illinois.
Oklahoma State’s Alex Dieringer captured his second of three straight NCAA titles that same year by going 34-0 at 165.
It fueled months of offseason speculation. What it would look like if Martinez bumped up a weight to tangle with Dieringer?
“There was some talk about it possibly going on (to start the next season) at the All-Star Classic,” Martinez said. “If I chose to go, I’d possibly go up to ‘65 for that dual. I only heard about it for a month or two and then it fizzled out.
“I think it would’ve been cool. We’ve never wrestled a college-style match. Alex always had quite a bit of size on me. But I was game, I was excited. I think it would’ve been a good matchup.”
Though Martinez versus Dieringer never materialized inside a college competitive arena, it’s a matchup that’s been staged numerous times in recent years inside practice rooms around the country. Dieringer has made trips to train with Martinez in Champaign. Martinez has worked out in Stillwater. They’ve rolled around at National Team training camps, too.
They’ll wrestle Friday night for the second time in a competitive match when Martinez takes the mat for Team Dake and Dieringer wrestles for Team Taylor in the 79-kilogram bout at AWL I: The Beginning.
“We’re so familiar with each other,” Martinez said. “We’ve wrestled each other so many times in the practice room. It’s going to come down to who get their attacks off and who can dictate where the match takes place. We have pretty similar tie-ups with where we want to be. We both want to control the ties. If he can control the ties, that’s going to be bad for me. If I can control the ties, I’m going to get some good stuff off. It’s really who controls the space on the mat and who can get to their attacks more frequently and in better position.”
Dieringer posted a 4-2 victory against Martinez in the 74-kilogram true-third match at the 2017 World Team Trials. The 2016 Hodge Trophy winner moved up this year to 79 kilograms, where he lost 5-5 on criteria in the U.S. Open finals against World champion Kyle Dake. Dieringer finished third on the American ladder after losing to Zahid Valencia in two matches with a trip to Final X on the line.
Dieringer also collected titles this year at the Medved and the International Ukrainian Tournament, where he defeated 2018 World silver medalist Jabrayil Hasanov of Azerbaijan in the finals.
Martinez won the 74-kilogram title in April at the U.S. Open and followed that up in May by scoring a pair of wins by technical superiority against Nazar Kulchytskyy in the finals of the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament. He eventually finished second on the American ladder at 74 kilograms behind five-time World and Olympic champion Jordan Burroughs.
Dake elected to move Martinez up to 79 kilograms. It was a decision the two-time NCAA champion from Illinois welcomed on a couple fronts. For one, it gave him a chance to dig in more at the dinner plate on Thanksgiving. It’s also giving him an opportunity to test himself against Taylor’s first draft pick.
“I think it’s important to challenge myself,” Martinez said. “I could make 74 with a couple-kilo allowance with no issue. But why not put yourself out there a little bit, especially for an event like this? We need people to be excited and they want big matchups. This matchup never really happened on level ground and now it is. It’s exciting.”
Tickets for AWL I: THE BEGINNING can be purchased at www.americanwrestling.org.
The event will be broadcast live by TrackWrestling
TEAM DAKE – 79 kg
Isaiah Martinez, Champaign, Ill. (Titan Mercury WC/Illini WC)
College: Illinois
High School: Leemore, Calif.
Born: September 2, 1994
• 2018 U.S. Open champion
• 2018 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament champion
• 2018 Final X runner-up
• Fourth in 2017 World Team Trials
• 2017 U23 World Team Trials champion
• 2016 University Nationals champion
• 2017 Last Chance World Team Trials Qualifier champion
• Third in 2018 Medved International (Belarus)
• Second in 2014 UWW Junior World Team Trials
• 2015 and 2016 NCAA champion for Illinois
• Four-time NCAA finalist
• Four-time Big Ten champion
• Three-time California state champion
TEAM TAYLOR – 79 kg
Alex Dieringer, Stillwater, Okla. (Titan Mercury WC/Cowboy WC)
College: Oklahoma State
High School: Port Washington, Wis.
Born: June 6, 1993
• Second in 2018 U.S. Open
• Second in 2018 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament
• Third in 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials
• Third in 2017 U.S. World Team Trials
• 2013 Junior World silver medalist
• 2018 Medved International champion (Belarus)
• 2016 Bill Farrell International champion
• Two-time Junior World Team member (2012, 2013)
• Three-time NCAA champion (2014-16) for Oklahoma State
• 2016 Dan Hodge Trophy recipient, as nation’s top college wrestler
• Four-time NCAA All-American
• Four-time Big 12 champion
• Two-time Wisconsin state champion and three-time finalist
Isaiah Martinez burst onto the Division I scene by going 34-0 and winning the 157-pound national title in his freshman season at Illinois.
Oklahoma State’s Alex Dieringer captured his second of three straight NCAA titles that same year by going 34-0 at 165.
It fueled months of offseason speculation. What it would look like if Martinez bumped up a weight to tangle with Dieringer?
“There was some talk about it possibly going on (to start the next season) at the All-Star Classic,” Martinez said. “If I chose to go, I’d possibly go up to ‘65 for that dual. I only heard about it for a month or two and then it fizzled out.
“I think it would’ve been cool. We’ve never wrestled a college-style match. Alex always had quite a bit of size on me. But I was game, I was excited. I think it would’ve been a good matchup.”
Though Martinez versus Dieringer never materialized inside a college competitive arena, it’s a matchup that’s been staged numerous times in recent years inside practice rooms around the country. Dieringer has made trips to train with Martinez in Champaign. Martinez has worked out in Stillwater. They’ve rolled around at National Team training camps, too.
They’ll wrestle Friday night for the second time in a competitive match when Martinez takes the mat for Team Dake and Dieringer wrestles for Team Taylor in the 79-kilogram bout at AWL I: The Beginning.
“We’re so familiar with each other,” Martinez said. “We’ve wrestled each other so many times in the practice room. It’s going to come down to who get their attacks off and who can dictate where the match takes place. We have pretty similar tie-ups with where we want to be. We both want to control the ties. If he can control the ties, that’s going to be bad for me. If I can control the ties, I’m going to get some good stuff off. It’s really who controls the space on the mat and who can get to their attacks more frequently and in better position.”
Dieringer posted a 4-2 victory against Martinez in the 74-kilogram true-third match at the 2017 World Team Trials. The 2016 Hodge Trophy winner moved up this year to 79 kilograms, where he lost 5-5 on criteria in the U.S. Open finals against World champion Kyle Dake. Dieringer finished third on the American ladder after losing to Zahid Valencia in two matches with a trip to Final X on the line.
Dieringer also collected titles this year at the Medved and the International Ukrainian Tournament, where he defeated 2018 World silver medalist Jabrayil Hasanov of Azerbaijan in the finals.
Martinez won the 74-kilogram title in April at the U.S. Open and followed that up in May by scoring a pair of wins by technical superiority against Nazar Kulchytskyy in the finals of the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament. He eventually finished second on the American ladder at 74 kilograms behind five-time World and Olympic champion Jordan Burroughs.
Dake elected to move Martinez up to 79 kilograms. It was a decision the two-time NCAA champion from Illinois welcomed on a couple fronts. For one, it gave him a chance to dig in more at the dinner plate on Thanksgiving. It’s also giving him an opportunity to test himself against Taylor’s first draft pick.
“I think it’s important to challenge myself,” Martinez said. “I could make 74 with a couple-kilo allowance with no issue. But why not put yourself out there a little bit, especially for an event like this? We need people to be excited and they want big matchups. This matchup never really happened on level ground and now it is. It’s exciting.”
Tickets for AWL I: THE BEGINNING can be purchased at www.americanwrestling.org.
The event will be broadcast live by TrackWrestling
TEAM DAKE – 79 kg
Isaiah Martinez, Champaign, Ill. (Titan Mercury WC/Illini WC)
College: Illinois
High School: Leemore, Calif.
Born: September 2, 1994
• 2018 U.S. Open champion
• 2018 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament champion
• 2018 Final X runner-up
• Fourth in 2017 World Team Trials
• 2017 U23 World Team Trials champion
• 2016 University Nationals champion
• 2017 Last Chance World Team Trials Qualifier champion
• Third in 2018 Medved International (Belarus)
• Second in 2014 UWW Junior World Team Trials
• 2015 and 2016 NCAA champion for Illinois
• Four-time NCAA finalist
• Four-time Big Ten champion
• Three-time California state champion
TEAM TAYLOR – 79 kg
Alex Dieringer, Stillwater, Okla. (Titan Mercury WC/Cowboy WC)
College: Oklahoma State
High School: Port Washington, Wis.
Born: June 6, 1993
• Second in 2018 U.S. Open
• Second in 2018 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament
• Third in 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials
• Third in 2017 U.S. World Team Trials
• 2013 Junior World silver medalist
• 2018 Medved International champion (Belarus)
• 2016 Bill Farrell International champion
• Two-time Junior World Team member (2012, 2013)
• Three-time NCAA champion (2014-16) for Oklahoma State
• 2016 Dan Hodge Trophy recipient, as nation’s top college wrestler
• Four-time NCAA All-American
• Four-time Big 12 champion
• Two-time Wisconsin state champion and three-time finalist
