Ohio State’s Martin Shares Ideas At Wheeling Jesuit Mat Camp
WHEELING — Myles Martin, like so many other college freshmen, had his fair share of ups and downs during his first year.
Perseverance paid off in a big way at the end for the Ohio State University wrestling standout.
After learning shortly after the new year that his redshirt would be pulled and he’d join the Buckeyes’ starting lineup, Martin had to change his entire mindset.
“Coach (Tom) Ryan and I had a lot of discussions about (my redshirt) over the course of probably a three-week span,” Martin said. “Sometimes those discussions got heated, too. But, Ohio State didn’t force me to into it. It was more like as I got better and stronger, I was bringing more evidence and I had convinced myself that I was ready and could compete with the best guys.”
Quite simply, he stuck to the plan he laid out for himself when signed with the Buckeyes, but advanced it and claimed the 174-pound NCAA championship with an 11-9 victory against Penn State’s Bo Nickal. Martin, who was third in the Big Ten Championship Tournament, became the first true freshman national champion in OSU history and the first 11th seed since 1979 to prevail.
“Nickal had beaten me earlier in the season, but I was nervous and really didn’t approach the match like I had other matches,” Martin recalled. “I just went into the match just looking to wrestle my match and compete as hard as I could. I knew I didn’t have much to lose.”
Martin spent most of Monday at Wheeling Jesuit University’s McDonough Center as the featured clinician at the school’s annual wrestling camp, which has attracted more than 150 campers for the four-day event.
The camp opened Sunday with Martin’s teammate, fellow national champion and 2016 Olympian Kyle Snyder serving as the chief speaker.
“I’ve done three or four camps already and have two or three more toward the end of the summer,” Martin said. “It was kind of weird doing (camps) at first because I’ve never really ran a practice or anything. Along with helping these kids become better wrestlers, I think doing these has helped me get better, too.”
During the course of the three sessions that he worked, Martin spent a lot of time going over takedown moves, which have proven beneficial for him during his career, which resulted in a 33-6 record last season at OSU and a 171-15 mark during his prep career at McDonogh School, which is located near Baltimore.
Between sessions, Martin spent time taking photos with campers and signing autographs. Those kinds of things are new to Martin, who really doesn’t look at himself any differently than he did before that March night at Madison Square Garden when he used a six-point move to seize control and eventually lock up a title.
“I guess life has changed a little bit, but I don’t think of it that way,” Martin said. “I feel like I am the same kid. My social media has blown up, people are contacting me for camps and even people have asked me to come speak at events. My little brother’s school, in New Jersey, asked me to speak at its graduation, and I just thought it was ridiculous. I’m not running for president or something. I mean it’s cool to be asked, but I’m the same guy that I was.”
As for what lies ahead, Martin has spent the majority of the summer in Columbus taking classes and working out. Don’t think for a minute that Martin has become complacent now that he’s a national champion. He’s simply using that title for motivation for the rest of his career as a Buckeye and beyond.
“I am just trying to continue to get better,” Martin said. “I know a lot of guys are going to be trying to beat me.”
With the Olympics just weeks away and the Buckeyes wrestling program being represented by Snyder, Martin admits that the 2020 Olympic Games are something he thinks about from time to time.
“I’ll just continue to take things one step at a time,” Martin said. “I am worried about next season, but (the Olympics) are definitely one of my long-term goals. I’ve always felt that if you spend too much focusing on the long-term goals, the short-term goals are forgotten and that affects the ability to get to the long-term goal.”
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