UNIVERSITY PARK — Frank Martellotti has experienced ups and downs in his wrestling career.
He hasn’t felt the lows in a while. At least not quite like this.
But even though Martellotti is coming off humbling back-to-back losses after starting out perfect in his first 10 dual meet appearances, the Nittany Lion sophomore still took time to smile on Tuesday.
“I’m pretty much where I was before,” Martellotti said before the team’s practice. “I’m just trying to get better. Clearly I have a lot of stuff to work on. It’s bad, but it’s good to have those matches now, obviously.”
The good news is the Lions’ starting 133-pounder will get two chances this weekend to redeem himself when Penn State faces the No. 7 Nebraska (14-1, 5-1 Big Ten) in Lincoln, Neb., tonight and welcomes No. 12 Michigan (6-3, 4-12) to Rec Hall on Sunday.
Martellotti, who spent a portion of last season ranked at 125 pounds before being relegated to the bench after academic issues stunted his spring semester, will likely face two more ranked opponents over the course of the Nittany Lions’ upcoming duals.
And while Nebraska’s Ridge Kiley, ranked No. 18, and Michigan’s No. 16 Zac Stevens don’t come with as stellar of resumes as Iowa’s No. 4 Tony Ramos and Ohio State’s No. 3 Logan Stieber did, they still could provide Martellotti with a solid base from which to stage a spring run.
A win would be nice. A convincing victory would be even better just two weeks after Ramos rolled Martellotti into a cradle for a pin and Stieber gained control of Martellotti’s arms and twisted him to his back for another fall.
Penn State coach Cael Sanderson has faith that good things are on the horizon for Martellotti.
“He’s right there. He’s very competitive and we believe in him,” Sanderson said. “I think mentally, he’s been sharpening his sword a little bit but he should be good to go this week. It’s a great weekend and opportunity for him. … He’ll have a couple of ranked guys and they’re not Top 5 like he’s seen (or) Top 3, so it’ll give him a chance to get in there.”
Martellotti is no stranger to overcoming obstacles.
After his freshman season was derailed due to academic ineligibility, the Pittsburgh native had to wait to get back on the mat to start his sophomore campaign when his academic issue lingered.
Sanderson made it clear that Martellotti was eligible by NCAA standards, but not by Penn State’s.
So Martellotti spent more time on his studies, upped his grade point average and returned to the lineup and lent his talents to the Lions’ thumping of Michigan State on Jan. 8.
“I think a lot of these guys, everyone puts pressure on themselves to some degree,” Sanderson said. “But I think for him it’s just more being off the mat for awhile and now he’s just working himself back in to where he wants to be.”
Martellotti could practice with the team during last spring and fall, but couldn’t accurately guage his conditioning without competing against some of the Big Ten’s top talent.
But Martellotti won’t use conditioning as an excuse for his most recent losses.
“I feel pretty good with my conditioning now,” He said. “It’s just a matter of me going out and wrestling. It doesn’t sound very specific, but I just have to wrestle my match.”
Currently, 133 pounds is one of the conference’s deepest weight classes, as seven of the 11 Big Ten teams currently have wrestlers ranked in the top 20. Five of those are in the top 10.
Wins over two wrestlers ranked in the polls might lend themselves to Martellotti finding himself among them.
“If he goes out and wrestles like he’s capable, especially this weekend and just has fun, he’s got the ability to be ranked,” Sanderson said. “If he goes and wins these matches he’s going to be ranked. He’s going to bring an extra spot to the conference tournament.”
Travis Johnson can be reached at 231-4629.
