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Well deserved

Connellsville native Martin earns coach of the year honors

By Jonathan Guth 5 min read
article image - Photo courtesy of Joe Stabilito Sr.
Connellsville native Kyle Martin holds the trophy after guiding Team Pennsylvania to the championship in the U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals at the Fargo Dome in Fargo, N.D. Martin was also honored as the USA Wrestling Development Coach of the Year prior to the freestyle finals.

Kyle Martin insists that he is a much better coach than he was a wrestler, and that is coming from someone who placed eighth in the state for Connellsville in 2004.

While Martin’s humility is on full display when he describes his wrestling career, the Norwin High School head coach may be on to something when he states he is a superior coach.

Martin was honored as the USA Wrestling Development Coach of the Year prior to the freestyle finals of the 2025 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals at the Fargo Dome in Fargo, N.D., on July 16.

“It kind of shook me when they made the announcement for the award,” Martin said. “It still hasn’t hit me yet. I think it was the first time I was really taken aback by something I won. It could have gone to pretty much anyone else that was nominated. I was just glad to be in the discussion.

“To put it in perspective, Ben Askren won it last year, so I am in some pretty good company. I was also nominated for the senior coach of the year award, which was won by Casey Cunningham, who is the associate head coach at Penn State.”

Martin was praised by his peers, who said the achievement was well deserved and overdue, but the former Falcon doesn’t take it for granted.

“I have been in rooms with Cael Sanderson, Mark Manning and Tom Ryan, and I still tend to pinch myself, but I have really worked my butt off to be the best coach I can be,” Martin said. “The one thing about someone like Cael Sanderson, he will treat you with respect and never talks about his accomplishments. They know we are all working to help these wrestlers improve.

“I have been all over the place the last five weeks. I was in Lima, Peru, for the U20 Pan American Championships before heading to Fargo. I have been working at world team camps. My parents instilled hard work in me, and it carried over when I started wrestling for ‘Dirt’ (Tom Dolde Sr.) at Connellsville.”

Martin is the Pennsylvania men’s director for USA Wrestling and helped guide the U18, U16 and U14 teams to national championships at all levels. He was also instrumental in the U20 team winning in Lima, Peru.

“I am not doing this stuff for acknowledgement, awards or a paycheck,” Martin said. “Wrestling taught me about hard work, and it instills values that carry beyond the mat because life will throw obstacles at you. I tend to always think I don’t belong with these great coaches, so I just keep working.”

Martin keeps a busy schedule, and while continuing to coach and teach history at Connellsville Area Middle School, he found time to earn his Ph.D in history, but he stresses that his students don’t address him as “Dr. Martin.”

“I teach graduate-level history courses, and the students tend to use the title, but I also tell them, you can call me ‘Kyle,'” said Martin. “I will be moving to a new position at the middle school this year as the dean of students. I took on that job for the second half of the school year, and they decided to make it a permanent one for me. I am glad I can still teach the college courses.”

Martin credits Dolde for not only helping him as a wrestler but for his interest in history, as the veteran coach was a Civil War enthusiast.

“Dirt was really interested in history, and the first time I went to Gettysburg, he took me,” Martin said. “That’s when it all clicked and I fell in love with history. He would read his books on the Civil War and use some Civil War history in technique, and I have borrowed that from him when I coach my wrestlers.”

It isn’t unique for a wrestling coach to be demonstrative in the corner, but Dolde was known around the wrestling community for his passive behavior when Connellsville competed, which occurred from non-section dual meets to the state finals.

“That was the thing about Dirt,” Martin said. “He worked you hard in the room, but he didn’t complain in the corner. The philosophy was that if you coached the kids hard in the room, they didn’t need that safety valve when they stepped on the mat in competition. It was successful.

“I ask my kids how they want me to coach them in the corner. If they want me to really get after it with instruction, I will, but if they are confident, I just sit back and watch them wrestle. I look forward to a time when I can enjoy watching them compete.”

Martin will continue to work with USA Wrestling, but he likes what he sees with the Knights.

Norwin features the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the country in Landon Sidun, who won a state title as a freshman, but didn’t compete in the postseason last year due to injury.

“We run wrestling year-round at Norwin, and with my schedule that comes with USA Wrestling, I need guys to help, but I am blessed with a tremendous coaching staff that is always there,” Martin said. “Landon (Sidun) is a top guy, but we have a number of solid kids coming up. We hope to be an up-and-coming team.”

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