IMAR first interview since loss to Vincenzo Joseph
- Thread starter Lion8286
- Start date
A well spoken and well grounded young man. I look forward to the matches next year between him, Cenzo, and Massa next season.
I love watching the maturation of Isaiah Martinez. Dude has been amazing letting us watch him grow. Anybody who tries to minimize what he is going to bring next year is the fooliest of fools. NoVA's right: 165's gonna be a dang treat next year.
Comes across as very intelligent, level-headed, down-to-earth.
Last edited:
He learned from the Nolf loss last year. I think he'll be a little more defensive against Joseph next time like he was with Nolf. He can't brute strength Joseph the way he did with Nolf. So it'll be interesting to see how he adjusts.
Kids like him make loving wrestling really easy.
You're right! IMAR said it himself, he had a bad tournament while Cenzo had a great tournament. Cenzo, Massa and the rest of the field better get their sh!& together next season in case IMAR has a great tournament.
During the interview IMar is extremely articulate and generally appears insightful and very thoughtful.
However the idea Cenzo had a great tournament while he (IMar) had a less than spectacular effort is a bit passive aggressive.
Obviously Cenzo had a great tournament, he won and his last three matches were classic high drama victories.
IMar was one victory and 2 minutes away from claiming his third NCAA title before the determined freshman ripped it out of his grasp. Not exactly a horrible performance, just barely short of great.
However the idea Cenzo had a great tournament while he (IMar) had a less than spectacular effort is a bit passive aggressive.
Obviously Cenzo had a great tournament, he won and his last three matches were classic high drama victories.
IMar was one victory and 2 minutes away from claiming his third NCAA title before the determined freshman ripped it out of his grasp. Not exactly a horrible performance, just barely short of great.
That was my thought as well... would he have said he had a bad tournament if he had beaten Cenzo?
I'm glad he said it the way he said it. Cenzo can throw that into the memory bank.
He made the finals obviously, but I can see why he says he wasn't great. He went 14-4 over McMurtry, 8-5 over Wanzek, 10-5 over C. Rogers, 2-1 over I. Jordan and then got decked by Cenzo.
Do you have his scores from last years tournament. I could be totally wrong but I thought IMAR was having pretty much the same tournament this year that he had last. Even up to the point he got thrown to his back in finals.
I got them. He went 16-0, 15-4, 6-3, SV-1 7-5 and 6-5. He had better results in his early matches, and a big scare in the Semis and needed a takedown in last 15 seconds to beat Nolf in finals. If he had a bad tournament this year then I'd guess his thoughts on last years was that his performance was marginal...
Last edited:
Not trying to downplay all he's done in the slightest. And you are right, he's a two time champ and that's certainly not by accident. And Joseph is a 1X Champ and that wasn't by accident either. And I also don't feel it's because some other wrestler had a "bad" tournament..
You know what is an accident, though? It is an accident that I was not a champ. I accidentally forgot to win the championship. It happens.
I feel it's a both. That match revealed CJ to be a truly special talent that basically worked Imar. And Imar proved that he is not a Zain type champion. In fact for someone whose only lost twice he's kind of hot and cold. I think it's fair to say that Imar has had better outings and CJ has never been better without taking away from CJ.
I agree. He takes nothing away from Cenzo. I didn't think IMar had a very good tournament either. It wasn't just his scores ... it was the way he looked on the mat. Nothing near the aggressiveness he exhibited earlier in his career. The field has also caught up and knows how to slow down his favorite attacks. Can he respond?
It is going to be a war next year at 165!
I would be tempted to wager on this should they meet at least 3 more times. Neither guy winning will be surprising and neither would Massa beating either one of them imo. Three outstanding wrestlers going at it in the same conference. Cenzo proved he has the talent and drive to accomplish anything, but Imar has much of that same stuff, and so does Massa. It is going to be fun to watch. Who stays the healthiest and gets hot at the right time?
I think Massa is as talented as Cenzo and IMar but only Cenzo wrestled with the belief he could beat IMar. Massa wrestled IMar tentatively, as if he was a tier below him, and the results were predictable. He can more easily flip the Cenzo result given that he was ahead late--he believed he could beat Cenzo. Maybe seeing Cenzo beat IMar helps Massa believe he belongs in the same tier but that's not usually how it works, gotta face your guy to get through the mental block.
The belief was the difference and having the skill to back that belief up. Cenzo wrestled his match and was the better wrestler going into the 3rd. He hit the inside trip with conviction and even IMAR... a defensive tactician couldn't defend it.
As Cenzo stated gleefully and with a huge smile on his face to Quint Kessenich after the match.... "Cael believed in me as I believed in him." (Telling Cenzo that he could go out and win this match.. that he was the "Man". That a 2 time National Champ was NOT the man in this match.) And Cenzo wrestled with that belief from the opening whistle, that a RS freshman could go out and take it to IMAR... and he was more than happy to tell the world afterwards. Coaching 101 along with the immense skill and talent on Cenzo's part. And a huge set of Italian balls to throw an inside trip on such a defensively skilled wrestler like IMAR at that juncture in the match and with the wrestling world watching. What we got next was... pure euphoria. Even Mike Evans was thoroughly impressed. Though he might not say it.
Do you think Ohio State went out with the belief they could beat Alabama in the BCS Bowl Series game? Look at the difference in mentality? An underdog who went out feeling like the Alpha Dog and the once proud Buckeyes going out and getting squashed like a Bucknut.
Last edited:
Count me among those that believe 165 will be a slugfest next year. Can't rest on any laurels, that's for sure, and whether you're Cenzo, IMar, Massa, or others, you better up your game, because this weight class will be stacked.
Of the AA's in March, only one departs (Isaac Jordan - Wis), while Cenzo (So), IMar (Sr - Ill), Massa (So - Mich), Rogers (Jr - Ok St), Lewis (Jr - Mizz), Walsh (SR - Rid), and Womack (Jr - Corn), all return. It's a REALLY young group (assuming no weight class changes), with only 2 departing next year.
Thinking that any one of these wrestlers is a shoe-in as National Champ isn't seeing this with rational vision.
Of the AA's in March, only one departs (Isaac Jordan - Wis), while Cenzo (So), IMar (Sr - Ill), Massa (So - Mich), Rogers (Jr - Ok St), Lewis (Jr - Mizz), Walsh (SR - Rid), and Womack (Jr - Corn), all return. It's a REALLY young group (assuming no weight class changes), with only 2 departing next year.
Thinking that any one of these wrestlers is a shoe-in as National Champ isn't seeing this with rational vision.
Yeah, he's a guy that's really fun to watch. Pretty unorthodox wrestler.
Womack is the only Alabama AA in the years 2010 to 2017. During that time, there's only been a total of 5 National Qualifiers from that state. I'm guessing some were the same guys, so likely less than 5 different guys. He beat #12 Austin Matthews, and #7 Valencia Valencia on his way to an AA finish in 2017. Appears to have a good bit of upside.
I think some people are reading way too much into his 'bad tournament' comment. Perhaps, when you are a two time champion your expectations and definition of good and bad performance is different than us keyboard warriors.
Very difficult to compare from year-to-year as they are different fields... I would expect I-Mar to be disappointed whether his perception of his own tournament relative to past years is actually true or not. The hard facts are that the guy has lost 2 matches in his first 3 years of eligibility and is 3-for-3 in making NCAA Finals (2 National Championships and 1 Runner-Up). He went into the finals undefeated in 2 of the 3 years and in the other year (last year), he went in with one-loss (32-1 iirc)....assuming he goes into next year's final undefeated, which is very likely given his trackrecord, he will go into that final one of the winningest wrestlers in NCAA history on a winning % basis (something on the order of 130-2 (win % of 98.5%). Given the way he responded to the loss to Jason last year, he is going to gunning for VinJo next year.
If anything, I think both I-Mar and VinJo put separation between themselves and the next tier (which is Jordan and Massa imho), but the battle between 1 & 2 is going to be epic....especially if they meet 3 times or more next year (i.e., they could potentially meet in a mid-season tournament on top of regular season B1G Dual, B1G Tourney and NCAA Tourney.
UWW always knew that a gun is safer than a knife, axe, or metal pipe. This latest incident in Siberia proves UWW's wisdom! -- T.R. Foley
I don't view IMar's comments about having a lackluster tournament as being all that different than, for example, when Zain or Nolf or Bo tech a top 5 opponent and then say in the post-match interview that they are disappointed they didn't get the pin. Both Nolf and Bo said after they won a national title that they wish they would've scored more points. In fact, I don't think any of those three would be totally satisfied with anything less than pinning their way through an entire season and postseason, and even then they would probably say "Well I wish I would've gotten more first period pins."
So I don't really think IMar meant to throw shade at Cenzo with his comments or to imply that it was some kind of fluke. I just think guys at that level have very lofty goals and expectations for themselves.
So I don't really think IMar meant to throw shade at Cenzo with his comments or to imply that it was some kind of fluke. I just think guys at that level have very lofty goals and expectations for themselves.
Flo interview with IMAR on Vincenzo Josephs loss. . .
Isaiah Martinez Played With Fire And Got Burned
http://www.flowrestling.org/video/1...-played-with-fire-and-got-burned#.WQep8Da1tjo
Isaiah Martinez Played With Fire And Got Burned
http://www.flowrestling.org/video/1...-played-with-fire-and-got-burned#.WQep8Da1tjo
Last edited:
Good stuff. Interesting question from Bader as to whether he felt something different from Cenzo than he'd previously felt. IMar unsurprisingly says he felt comfortable even after the inside trip, thinking he could kick out like he did against Ian Miller, and that he chose that route rather than go upper body. Not arguing that that wasn't how he genuinely felt but I don't think going upper body was a realistic choice at the point Cenzo hooks his leg. One of them was going to wind up on their back.
