Stevie Joyce (SJ) Martin
Photo credit: M.Marquez
Our Athlete of the Week is Stevie Joyce (SJ) Martin.
On July 15-16th, this Castro Valley wrestler competed for Team California in the 16U 112lb class. In a bracket of 64 girls, Martin pinned Arizona wrestler I. Castaneda in 1:35. Martin then beat Michigan’s A. Lynch 9-0. In Martin’s third match she wrestled Puerto Rico star A. Santo-Baez who recently became the U17 Pan American Silver Medalist, losing a tough 8-3 decision. With Martin facing tournament elimination with another loss, Martin punched her ticket to the "Top 8" bracket with two wins one by technical superiority over A. Montiel of Washington 10-0 and a win by pin over S. Aguirre of AZ in just 23 seconds.
In her final battle, Martin defeated M. Mills from FL. to achieve All-American status, which qualifies Martin for the U15 Pan Am trials taking place on August 12-13 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Martin will be a sophomore at Granada High School in Livermore and trains with both Livermore Elite Wrestling Club and ZMATA in Castro Valley.
