Kyle Martin doesn’t make the annual trek to Fargo, N.D. for the scenery, the Badlands or props from a movie with the town’s namesake.
The Norwin wrestling coach travels across the country to win championships while allowing his athletes to experience the thrill of high-level competition.
Martin led the Pennsylvania 16U team to a sixth straight championship, and saw several individuals reach the medal stand, at the USA Junior National Wrestling National Championships.
Five Norwin wrestlers competed in Fargo.
Martin also coached the PA Junior 18U team to a second consecutive title.
"The formula has been the same, but I make several adjustments every year and these adjustments are made all year,” Martin said. "A lot of our mission and expectations applied to the Norwin program and the (Knights Regional Training Center) are applied to the national team.”
Last year, RTC wrestlers accounted for one-third of the points the Pennsylvania team earned.
This year, it was even better.
Elijah Brown, who attends Belle Vernon, won a national title, while Norwin’s Coleton Klipa earned All-America honors.
Klipa went 9-0 and joined Landon Sidun as back-to-back Fargo All-Americans.
Sidun did not compete this year.
"Klipa had a great performance in Greco after a freestyle performance where he learned a lot about himself,” Martin said. "He showed a ton of resiliency to bounce back from not making it to the (All-American) rounds in freestyle.”
Martin said Klipa continues to get better and sees potential in his game.
"He just needs some mental confidence and to adjust his mentality towards training and he will jump even more levels,” the coach said. "He has already started making those adjustments and you see that in his growth on the mat.”
Norwin’s Jo Dollman and Karsyn Champion competed on the girls side, while Luca Butera and Brooks Blasko won matches for the boys.
Martin was named the USA Wrestling Northeast Region Developmental Coach of the Year and was nominated for USA Wrestling Freestyle Development Coach of the Year.
"None of this is possible without the athletes, and I am already back to work on having Norwin jump another level in both boys and girls wrestling,” Martin said. "I’ve got a tremendous coaching staff that are all focused on the athletes and do a really good job of blocking out the noise that so often takes the focus off of the athletes.”
Martin said he had a full-circle moment when he received the Marine Corps Cup from wrestlers he had coached in the past.
Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.
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