Wrestlers · Senior level
Amanda Martinez
2x U.S. Open champion at 57 kg; 2026 Pan American champion; 2x Final X finalist opposite Helen Maroulis
Riverside, IL · Riverside-Brookfield HS · North Central College
By Joe Spisak, Pennsylvania state champion and 4x NCAA qualifier at Virginia · Published September 10, 2026
Amanda Martinez grew up in Riverside, Illinois, and wrestled at Riverside-Brookfield High School, where she won the Illinois girls' state tournament in 2017 as a senior. She has said she would not be the wrestler she is without her high school coach Mike Boyd, who taught her to be one percent better every day.
She spent two years at Lindenwood, then transferred to North Central College. She was the national runner-up at 130 pounds at the NCWWC in 2020 and 2021 and graduated in 2021 as the program's career wins leader. She joined the North Central staff as a graduate assistant that year and was named an assistant coach the next summer.
At the 2021 Olympic Team Trials in Fort Worth she was seeded 12th at 57 kg, about 125 pounds. She wrestled three matches and finished in the top eight, beating NAIA national champion Bridgette Duty of the University of the Cumberlands. That year she placed seventh at the U23 World Championships in Belgrade.
She was third at the World Team Trials in 2022 and 2023 and took true third at Final X both years. She won the Senior Women's Nationals in 2023 and was the World Team Trials runner-up in 2024.
In 2025 she won the U.S. Open and met Helen Maroulis at Final X, and Maroulis swept the series by fall. In 2026 she won the U.S. Open again with two first-period pins, a 9-1 win over two-time age-group World medalist Amani Jones and a 6-4 final over Alex Hedrick, both of Titan Mercury. She won the Poland Open in Warsaw and the Pan American Championships in Coralville, and took bronze at three ranking series events. At Final X in Newark on June 19 Maroulis beat her 8-1 and 6-0, decisions rather than the falls of the year before. She holds the No. 2 spot on the national team for 2026-27.
She is an assistant coach at North Central College and wrestles at 57 kg for the Cardinal Wrestling Club and Titan Mercury, ranked second in the United States at the weight.
Results
| Season | Level | Event | Weight | Place | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-17 | High school | Illinois girls' state tournament | 1st | Won as a senior at Riverside-Brookfield High School; her coaches there were Mike Boyd, Matt Regnier, Mario Shermack and Nick Curby | |
| 2019-20 | College | NCWWC | 130 lb | 2nd | Her first season at North Central after two years at Lindenwood; she won the North Central Invitational and had 18 technical falls. North Central lists her season record as 31-5 and the Riverside-Brookfield Landmark as 30-5, so no record is given. |
| 2020-21 | College | NCWWC | 130 lb | 2nd | 11-3. A second straight national final; she was a two-time All-American, a three-time NWCA Scholar All-American, and left as North Central's career wins leader |
| 2021 | Senior | U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Fort Worth, Texas | 57 kg | top 8 | April 2021 at Dickies Arena; seeded 12th, she wrestled three matches and finished in the top eight, beating NAIA national champion Bridgette Duty of the University of the Cumberlands and losing to 2020 U.S. Open champion Lauren Louive. North Central's staff bio dates this meet 2020 and the Riverside-Brookfield Landmark dates it 2021. |
| 2021 | Age group | U23 World Championships, Belgrade, Serbia | 57 kg | 7th | She was fourth at the Senior World Team Trials that year and the U23 Women's Nationals runner-up |
| 2022 | Senior | World Team Trials | 57 kg | 3rd | She took true third at Final X, was fourth at the U.S. Open, took silver at the Bill Farrell Memorial International and was a World Cup team member |
| 2023 | Senior | Senior Women's National Championships | 57 kg | 1st | She also took true third at Final X, placed third at the Senior World Team Trials and third at the U.S. Open. |
| 2024 | Senior | Senior World Team Trials | 57 kg | 2nd | She took bronze at the Bill Farrell Memorial International and at the Polyak Imre and Varga Janos Memorial in Budapest that year |
| 2025 | Senior | U.S. Open | 57 kg | 1st | She also took bronze at the Pan American Championships in Monterrey, Mexico and silver at the Bill Farrell Memorial International |
| 2025 | Senior | Final X | 57 kg | 2nd | Helen Maroulis swept the series by fall. Through 2025 the two had met four times, all won by Maroulis by fall: at the 2022 Zouhaier Sghaier Ranking Series in Tunis, twice in this Final X series and at the 2025 Polyak Imre and Varga Janos Memorial in Budapest. |
| 2026 | Senior | U.S. Open, Las Vegas | 57 kg | 1st | April 2026, her second straight U.S. Open title; she opened with back-to-back first-period pins, beat two-time age-group World medalist Amani Jones (Titan Mercury WC) 9-1 in the semifinals and Alex Hedrick (Titan Mercury WC) 6-4 in the final. |
| 2026 | Senior | Pan American Championships, Coralville, Iowa | 57 kg | 1st | May 8, 2026 at Xtream Arena; she beat two-time Olympian Luisa Valverde Melendres of Ecuador 6-1, sealing it with a counter takedown in the final minute. It was her third international medal of the year after bronzes at the Zagreb Open and the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series in February, and she also won the Poland Open in Warsaw. |
| 2026 | Senior | Final X, Newark, N.J. | 57 kg | 2nd | June 19, 2026 at Prudential Center; Helen Maroulis won 8-1 and 6-0, decisions rather than the falls of the year before, and took her 13th Senior World Team spot |
What we could not confirm
Anything not on this page, a high school record, a final score, a season, was left out because no primary source stated it when this was written. If you have a bracket, a program, or a clipping, send it and the page gets the number.
Sources
- https://www.themat.com/profiles/amanda-martinez · USA Wrestling profile: age 27, hometown Riverside, IL, education Lindenwood University-Belleville and North Central College; 2026-27 Team USA ranking No. 2 at 57 kg/125 pounds; four years on Team USA; residence Riverside, Ill.; regional training center Cardinal WC; club Titan Mercury WC; personal coach Joseph Norton; high school Riverside-Brookfield High School; 2021 U23 Worlds seventh at 57 kg; 2026 Pan American champion, Poland Open champion in Warsaw, bronze at the Budapest, Tirana and Zagreb ranking series events, U.S. Open champion and Final X runner-up; 2025 Bill Farrell silver, Pan American bronze in Monterrey, Muhamet Malo bronze, U.S. Open champion and Final X runner-up; 2024 Bill Farrell bronze, Budapest bronze and Senior World Team Trials runner-up; 2023 true third at Final X, third at the Senior World Team Trials, third at the U.S. Open and Senior Women's National champion; 2022 World Cup team member, Bill Farrell silver, true third at Final X, third at the World Team Trials and fourth at the U.S. Open; 2021 seventh at U23 Worlds and fourth at the Senior World Team Trials; two-time collegiate national runner-up and two-time All-American. This page names her college as Lindenwood University-Belleville while the Riverside-Brookfield Landmark says Lindenwood University in Missouri.
- https://www.rblandmark.com/2021/05/04/grappling-with-success/ · May 4, 2021 Riverside-Brookfield Landmark: Martinez won a championship at the girls high school state tournament in 2017 as a senior at Riverside-Brookfield; she wrestled at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, seeded 12th at 57 kg, wrestled three matches and finished in the top eight, beating NAIA national champion Bridgette Duty of the University of the Cumberlands and losing to Lauren Louive; she transferred to North Central after two years at Lindenwood University in Missouri and went 30-5 in 2019-20; she took fifth at the World Team Trials the previous November; she credits high school coaches Matt Regnier, Mario Shermack, Nick Curby and most of all Mike Boyd, and was coaching with the West Suburban Girls Wrestling Club in Naperville
- https://northcentralcardinals.com/staff-directory/amanda-martinez/524 · North Central College staff directory: Martinez joined the men's and women's wrestling staffs as a graduate assistant before the 2021-22 season and was named assistant coach in the summer of 2022; she was a two-time All-American who finished as national runner-up at 130 pounds at the NCWWC in 2020 and 2021 and graduated as the program's all-time leader in career victories; three-time NWCA Scholar All-American; she represented the USA at 57 kg at the 2021 U23 World Championships in Belgrade, is a four-time USA Wrestling All-American, finished top eight at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials and was fourth at the 2021 Senior World Team Trials at 55 kg; she graduated from North Central in spring 2021 with a degree in management
- https://northcentralcardinals.com/sports/womens-wrestling/roster/amanda-martinez/13042 · North Central College roster bio: in 2020-21 Martinez competed at 130 and 136 pounds, went 11-3 with four technical falls, competed at the U.S. Olympic team trials finishing in the top eight, earned All-American honors at Nationals, won the 57 kg weight class at the USA Women's Wrestling Nationals and the Junior/U23 World Team Trials and was an NWCA Scholar All-American; in 2019-20 she competed at 130 and 136 pounds, went 31-5 with 18 technical falls, won the North Central Invitational and took second at the Cliff Keen National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships
- https://nwhof.org/news/maroulis-martinez-will-meet-again-at-final-x-presented-by-kerberos-capital-management · National Wrestling Hall of Fame preview of the 2026 Final X 57 kg series: Maroulis and Martinez meet again on June 19 at Prudential Center; Martinez won her second straight U.S. Open title at 57 kg with back-to-back first-period pins, a 9-1 win over two-time age-group World medalist Amani Jones and a 6-4 win over Alexandra Hedrick; she represented the U.S. at the 2021 U23 World Championships and on the 2022 World Cup team, and won bronze at the Zagreb Open and the Muhamet Malo Tournament in 2026; Maroulis and Martinez have met four times, all Maroulis wins by fall, at the 2022 Zouhaier Sghaier Ranking Series in Tunis, in the 2025 Final X sweep and at the 2025 Polyak Imre and Varga Janos Memorial in Budapest; the Final X entry lists Martinez as Riverside, Ill./Cardinal WC/Titan Mercury WC
- https://nwhof.org/news/senior-women-s-freestyle-champions-crowned-at-u-s-open · 2026 U.S. Open Championships, Las Vegas: 57 kg final, Amanda Martinez (Cardinal WC/Titan Mercury WC) dec. Alexandra Hedrick (Titan Mercury WC) 6-4, with Martinez on the attack from start to finish; Amani Jones was third
- https://www.themat.com/news/2026/may/08/gomez-martinez-nwachukwu-impress-in-finals-u-s-scores-five-champs-in-women-s-freestyle-at-pan-american-championships · May 8, 2026 USA Wrestling: Martinez won 57 kg gold at the Senior Pan American Championships at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa with a 6-1 win over two-time Olympian Luisa Valverde Melendres of Ecuador, sealed with a counter takedown in the final minute; it was her third international medal of the year after bronzes at the Zagreb Open and the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series in February
- https://www.themat.com/news/2026/june/19/nwachukwu-turner-go-the-distance-eight-earn-spots-on-women-s-freestyle-world-team-at-2026-final-x-presented-by-kerberos-capital-management · June 19, 2026 USA Wrestling: at Final X at Prudential Center in Newark, Helen Maroulis beat Amanda Martinez two matches to none at 57 kg, 8-1 and 6-0, described as much closer than the previous year, decisions rather than pins; Maroulis qualified for her 13th Senior World Team; the results block reads '57 kg - Alex Hedrick (Titan Mercury WC) dec. Amani Jones (Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC), 5-3', giving both opponents their clubs and USA Wrestling's spelling of Alex Hedrick
- https://www.themat.com/news/2026/june/17/match-order-released-for-2026-final-x-presented-by-kerberos-capital-management-dake-valencia-maroulis-martinez-main-events · June 17, 2026 USA Wrestling match order release for 2026 Final X, presented by Kerberos Capital Management, listing the Maroulis-Martinez 57 kg series among the main events
- https://northcentralcardinals.com/sports/womens-wrestling/coaches · North Central College's own coaches page, headed '2025-2026 Women's Wrestling Coaching Staff', lists Amanda Martinez as Assistant Women's Wrestling Coach alongside head coach Joe Norton; it supersedes the staff-directory bio, which still calls her third in the United States after the 2022 Senior national team
- https://cornellrams.com/sports/womens-wrestling/roster/coaches/lauren-louive/979 · Cornell College coaching bio for Lauren Louive: 2020 U.S. Open and Senior National champion, four-time WCWA All-American at the University of the Cumberlands, competed at the Olympic Trials in 2016 and 2020
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