Imart Going up to 165
/Isiah Martinez posted a series of tweets on Tuesday afternoons announcing his intentions to bump up to 165 for the next college season. Illinois' 2-time (in two tries) NCAA Champion was at 157 for the first half of his college career. He suffered his first collegiate loss this season when he was pinned by Jason Nolf (Penn State). Imar was able to get revenge in the Big Ten and NCAA Finals to make it his only collegiate loss two seasons in.
Since I keep getting this question, I figure I might as well answer it
— Isaiah Martinez (@Imar165) May 17, 2016
I will be competing at 165 lbs next year, hence my Twitter handle now makes sense lol
— Isaiah Martinez (@Imar165) May 17, 2016
Good Luck 😉
— Isaiah Martinez (@Imar165) May 17, 2016
So now the Twitter handle makes sense for the first time during his redshirt year. He credited the Illinois coaching staff for getting him to focus on making better decisions and then he surprisingly took the world by storm at 157 being the first undefeated freshman national champ since Cael Sanderson.
It seems like the logical move, and would probably been more of a surprise if he stayed at 157 with how he looked last season. With Alex Dieringer graduated, this will make Imar the favorite despite bumping up. New challenges up a weight will be there though. A host of guys that could include Bo Jordan, Isaac Jordan, Logan Massa, Mark Hall, Daniel Lewis, and maybe even Nolf will be looking to prevent him from joining the very small 4-time champion club.