Michael Martinez, who received the Medal of Courage from the Colorado Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016, was a 2003 and 2004 Colorado state champion for Pagosa Springs High School. He won his first state title as a junior despite wrestling an abbreviated schedule because of a compound ankle fracture.

At the University of Wyoming, Martinez posted a 116-43 record, won three Western Wrestling Conference championships and competed in the NCAA Division I Championships four times, winning seven bouts for the Cowboys. He wrestled in the 2012 Olympic Trials, losing to eventual Olympic team member Sam Hazewinkel.

On April 2, 2013, while working on his family’s 236-acre ranch, located outside Pagosa Springs, Martinez chose to stay in a motor home on the property, eliminating a 40-minute drive and giving him an opportunity to begin work early the next day. During the night as he lit a match, the propane stove burst into a fireball that covered his body.

With second- and third-degree burns covering more than 80 percent of Martinez’s body, the EMTs summoned a medical helicopter to fly him 45 minutes to the University of New Mexico Hospital burn unit in Albuquerque. He was expected to be hospitalized for up to three months but a visit from his high school coach, Dan Janowsky, helped Martinez to work harder on his recovery. He surprised medical professionals when he returned home after just 21 days.

Once given clearance, he began light exercise and resumed running. Janowsky invited Martinez to help him with the wrestling team at his alma mater, and he soon was working on the mat and holding open mat workouts at 6 a.m., attended by most of the wrestlers. In the spring of 2014, Pagosa Springs had its first individual state champion since 2009.

For using the same tenacity and dedication he displayed on the wrestling mat to overcome physical and mental obstacles, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame is honored to bestow the Medal of Courage upon Michael Martinez…an inspiration to us all.