C. "Todd" Martinek
Todd Martinek shares a distinction with two other Maryland National Hall of Famers, Bruce Malinowski and Eddie Bailey. They all wrestled, coached and refereed in the Maryland State Finals. Todd won the State Championship at 103 lbs for Bel Air High School in 1989. He furthered his mat success by competing at Salisbury State University at 118 lbs. Todd captained the last team in 1992 as Salisbury dropped their Division III Wrestling Program due to Title IX finacial problems.
Shortly after graduating from Salisbury, Todd started an eight year run as head coach at James M. Bennett High School. During that time, his teams sported a 73 – 38 record. He moved to Stephen Decatur High School as an assistant for the next five years, compiling a record of 80 wins and only 4 losses. The next three years, Todd tried his hand as a wrestling official. He excelled there just as he had as a competitor and a coach. He was a referee at both the state dual meet tournament and the individual state tournament in 2009 and 2010.
Todd returned to Stephen Decatur in 2012 as head coach. As he enters the 2021-2 season, he has coached five state champions and forty six state place-winners. He has been named the Bayside Coach of the year both at James M. Bennett and Stephen Decatur High Schools.
In addition to these accolades, Todd and Kevin Gilligan conceived a highly competitive tournament named The War on the Shore starting in 2002. Working together, they recruited teams from Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania to compete both on the varsity and junior varsity levels. Besides essentially running two tournaments at the same place, they provided housing for visiting teams. Recruiting volunteers to work the tables and the scoreboards and providing a hospitality room for coaches is a task that Todd has handled seamlessly for the past 17 years. Moreover, he began hosting The All-American Summer Wrestling Camp featuring coaches from Princeton University in 2015. Todd Martinek has dedicated himself to teaching wrestlers of all ages the skills and work ethic to make them successful on the mat and into their future.
Awards:
Year
2021
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Award
Lifetime Service to Wrestling
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Chapter/Region
Maryland
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