Former Iowa coach Dan Gable constructed a dynasty by filling his room with wrestlers who accepted less scholarship money to become Hawkeyes. The NCAA limits Division I programs to distributing 9.9 scholarships, so finding wrestlers willing to make the same sacrifice as Martellotti is critical in Sanderson's depth-building process. "He doesn't want it handed to him," Giel said. "He knows what's coming in that room. He's preparing himself for that battle. He has never backed away from that challenge. When we wrestled dual meets, he always wanted to wrestle the best kid. At any tournament he's looking to see who's in what weight class and he will go to that weight class so he can wrestle tougher competition." Martellotti visited Penn State and ate breakfast with Sanderson before the season. He liked everything he saw. "I just think with all the good guys around I'm going to have to get better," he said. "I'm looking forward to it." Martellotti is one of two wrestlers in the 2010 recruiting class who projects to wrestle 133. The other is West Mifflin's Sam Sherlock, a 2009 Class AAA champion whose senior season ended in December because of a knee surgery.
Redshirt freshman Bryan Pearsall went 3-21 as the Nittany Lions'133-pounder this past season. The weight could be one of Penn State's biggest questions entering 2010-11. "I know from watching some of their dual meets that's not one of their strongest positions," Martellotti said. "That makes me want to work harder to get a starting spot." Martellotti doesn't mind hard work. Shady Side Academy is one of the state's best Class AA programs and Giel's room features multiple talented lightweights, including state qualifiers Phil Elias, Geoff Alexander and Anthony Elias from 112- 125. Martellotti trained with three-time state champion and current Pitt freshman Dane Johnson during his first three years at the college preparatory school in the Pittsburgh suburb of Fox Chapel. "The two of them battled and worked and worked," Giel said. "Dane's sophomore year he was on a mission to win a state title and he kind of brought Frankie with him. Once Dane left, Frankie has just kept it going." Martellotti's energy level is obvious. He needed just four seconds to take Maschack down. He struggled from the bottom position in the third period, but Giel said Martellotti wrestles better as a tournament progresses.
A slow start doomed Martellotti here as a sophomore in 2008. But he accomplished one of the sport's toughest tasks by wrestling back for third place. "He showed some character because when you lose that first match after being a state champion your dreams are gone and then you have to battle back," Giel said. "He was a warrior." The warrior has one high school goal left: returning to the podium rung he once occupied. An early college decision has helped Martellotti, who lives in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Carrick, focused on wrestling and on school, two things he called his life this season. "Every year you want to wrestle well," he said. "But you're kind of getting schools to look at you. This year, this tournament is for me."
Thanks to Guy Cipriano and the "Centre Daily Times" (State College, Pa.) for the article