Challenges and obstacles always have been part of Beatrize Martinez’s world.
This makes being a senior leader of the women’s wrestling team and Student Government Association president another set of challenges she thinks she can overcome.
Martinez, who grew up in Fresno, Calif., honed her craft from an early age.
“When I was 5, I used to wrestle around with neighborhood kids, until my dad told me it wasn’t very lady-like, so I stopped,” Martinez said.
“In middle school, I tried out for the basketball team and the soccer team, but I didn’t make it. So I went back to wrestling, where you couldn’t get cut because so many people would just quit.”
Wrestling was an outlet, not just a sport for Martinez. It helped her take out the frustration and the problems she had to deal with as a girl.
“I’m naturally a competitive person, so wrestling was definitely the place I could express my competitiveness and win,” Martinez said.
“My family life was pretty rough and unstable. That’s why I saw wrestling as the place where I could take it all out.”
Martinez continued wrestling through high school, but didn’t consider competing in college until a family friend gave her the idea. A Google search led her to OCU’s collegiate women’s wrestling program.
“They had been first in the nation for three years in a row, so I decided that’s where I wanted to go,” she said.
Martinez’s first year as a Star was not a cakewalk. Martinez struggled in sports and academics, despite being a part of the 2010-11 women’s wrestling squad that won a national title.
“When we came in during our freshman year, Beatrize almost didn’t know anything,” said Senior Wrestler Kristi Garr. “She has worked so hard and improved so much since then.”
Martinez wanted to expand her competitiveness from wrestling to other parts of her campus life. SGA elections gave her the opportunity to do that.
“As an SGA senator my sophomore year, I didn’t understand why, as national champions, we still couldn’t get people to come our games,” Martinez said. “I also saw there were some transparency and accountability issues in SGA at the time. Those were the incentives that led me to run for president.”
Martinez was elected president March 28, following a run-off election.
Time management is key to fulfilling all of her responsibilities, Martinez said.
“The best part of my responsibilities is that they are all team efforts,” Martinez said “My SGA team, for example, is a great team of people who want to be here and are passionate about change.”
Melissa Simmons, an assistant coach and Martinez’s former teammate, said she is impressed by how Martinez handles her business.
“Beatrize has taken on a lot of responsibilities this year,” Simmons said. “She really gives it her all day in and day out.”
Martinez has won two Most Improved Player of the Year awards during her three years at OCU. She also has been part of back-to-back national titles with the Stars in 2011 and 2012, and was All-American last season while finishing fourth in the national tournament.
Martinez, who majors in economics and criminal justice, hopes to attend graduate school at Stanford University and study law or economics. She eventually wants to assist in foster care reform as a family court attorney.
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