Observer-Reporter Athlete of the Week
Name: Giani Martini
School: Trinity
Sport: Wrestling
Class: Freshman
Martini’s week: The 113-pounder was the lone individual champion for Trinity in the Tri-County Athletic Directors’ Association Wrestling Tournament Saturday.
Martini’s win helped the Hillers to a third-place finish in the team standings behind Waynesburg and Canon-McMillan.
Martini defeated defending champion and top-seeded Bryce Wilkes of Peters Township, 15-8, for the gold medal, thanks to four takedowns in the final period. Martini, the third seed, opened the tournament with a pin of Richard LaRosa of Beth-Center in 2:48. Martini earned a spot in the finals with a 6-2 decision over unseeded Michael Binni of Canon-McMillan.
“If I go out there and concentrate on scoring points, then the wins will come,” said Martini. “Before the match (against Wilkes), I was thinking about taking him down and letting him up, just trying to score. I wasn’t thinking about pins or anything. Go out and score and you’ll win the match.”
Trinity coach Mark Powell is pleased with Martini’s progress under difficult circumstances. Martini came to the varsity with high expectations from a strong junior high career.
“Giani is a good wrestler. Sometimes, when you get to the varisty level, you have to change to get to that next level,” said Powell. “He’s improving, he’s changing, he’s buying into the system.
“When you look at Powerade, he could have made the semis and maybe finals. We didn’t make it to Day 2. That’s part of the process for a freshman adapting to the varsity level.”
Martini agrees making the transition from junior high has been dramatic.
“Everyone is stronger here,” said Martini, who has a 16-4 record. “I worked harder in practice and worked on my technique.”
Oh, (twin) brother: Giani has a twin brother, Nikko, and the two were always wrestling, even as little children. The two rolled around the house so much that their father put a wrestling mat in the house. Weights followed.
“That’s how I got into (wrestling),” said Giani. “My brother is on the junior high team. He can be a good wrestler. We work out a lot to try to get better.”
Nikko plays football and Giani suspects it might be his favorite sport. Giani concentrates solely on wrestling so he spends more time preparing for the demands of the sport than his brother. Giani does so with a goal in mind.
“I hope to do pretty good,” said Giani. “I want to beat my coach’s win total (134).”
Compiled by Joe Tuscano