Izzy Philosophy : Speakers & Interviews

Izzy I justn want to say thanks for all you do. Also to those who are under the impression that if it weren't for me paying his way...I pay for what I get and that is his time and effort in traing my kids and traveling with them when he could be doing hi own thing. In any other sport you don't hear people making comments about paying coaching fees for coaches to travel, such as Cheerleading, gymnastics, hockey or any others. I guess I just believe on taking care of people that take care of me or my family. So if you have an issue with that I could show you my expense account for my daughters coaches.

First of all I approached Jose Martinez when we chose to go to Martinez elite. We Had the chance to wrestle with a lot of good coaches. My boys have had a lot of exposure before Izzy started training them but again he has been a big part of their current success. I also want to say that what Izzy does on his own time is truley his own business, as long as it does not directly affect the kids. I think many of us forget what we were doing at his age or what we were doing at the age when he did get in trouble. If everyone who is out there backstabbing Izzy or any other coach or athlete would just take that energy and try to make something positive come out of it we might have a lot more great wrestlers and coaches. I know that I myself am not perfect because perfect is a fault and I don't have any faults (Ha Ha). But I would like to be able to say is that Izzy is not for everyone out there, but neither is any other coach. Put your child where you think they may be the most successful for themselves whether it be school, sports, or anything in their lives. To many people keep dwelling on the past and I think it's time we all look at the future.

It's purrrrfect how much this guy hates his heart.

I may love mackerel but this fat bastard must love Tom Tom tamales.

Riddle me this then. Why would you send your kid to wrestle for a coach who will not be there to actually coach your kid?

Riddle me this. Did Izzy get kicked out of a freestyle tournament this year?

who gets credit for benefiels blunder at Vegas? Izzy, OT or northwestern? Trained by all 3

oh yeah benefiel who pinned twice in vegas

Who gives a sh!t who is trained by who? Just wrestle. I get so tired of this gloating over who was trained by who or where.

And Benefiel, a better wrestler than both of those guys, nice try!!!

are you sure you dont mean get pinned? Like ramos and win like blanton did in Vegas? hahaha

overtime !!! why win in overtime when you could pin in the first period IZZZY STYLE BITCHESSS

and 6 gs in debt.

Zimmerman and Lukowski are Overtime and Bormet trained!!!!

Zimmerman and Lukowski were NOT overtime...Nowry won a tough 103 bracket loaded with freshmen. Izzy Style had a much better showing at the IND tourney. End of story.

OT had six champs and numerous AA
Nowry, morrison, Apland, Zimmerman,Lukowski and polz

Yes, he was personally trained by him.
And can you please answer as to how OT 'cleaned up" How many champs did they have?

Goebel never practiced with Izzy style...if you want to count him because he went to montini by all means count him.

OT cleaned up their tears after they took a monster dump...If you say they did well, you were not watching the state of ILLINOIS wrestling tourney
AND you forgot Goebel, 4 out of 14 not too shabby. OT had how many champs? 1?

izzy style ???you on crack OT cleaned up at Ihsa izzy only had 3 champs ramos bros and blanton

izzy is a beast

izzy style cleaned up at the IHSA tourney and OT took a dump, thats all i know!!!

How are you going to say Overtime hasnt produced the numbers Izzy has?!?! are you on CRACK!

the raspy voice is real, he has always talked that way, not sure why.

Even I can tell this guy is a poser. The MMA hat, the chopper, the fake raspy voice. This dude makes me look cool.

Did he not share his blocks with you in pre school too??
PUUUHLLEEEAAASSEEE!!?!?!?!?
Great point there tool, he is not a good coach because he would not share with you! LOL wow!!!

C'mon Flo- This guy has no business being spotlighted

Mistakes?? This guy didn't make mistakes, he's made a series of career ending decisions, but because he was talented on the mat, people excuse him. I'm all for redemption and forgiveness, but to celebrate this dude is retarded. Let's not forget that this guy's last year of JUCO's he qualified for nationals, was # 1 seed and never showed up for the bus- Screwing your own life up is one thing, but screwing a whole team is quite another.
I'm sure he is a good coach on the mat- But this guy should never be any face of wrestling. Let him quietly be an assistant to the others that have paid their dues and promote being a solid human being.
I'll be the first one to shake his hand, if in several years he's proved that he's not still a cancer-

someone please post a video of izzy wrestling back in the day i wanna see that

You cant even remember the year, but it made a lasting impression. Your an idiot. Thats when Izzy was a kid, and he admits to making mistakes. Fool.

The memory that sticks with me is wrestling on Team Illinois back in 97' or 98' and Isreal would not let me use his scale in Fargo because I was from a Class A school. That is the lasting impression that I will always remember him for, I would rather send my kids to Jerry Kelly with ISI and maybe they would learn about what is really important in the big picture of life..being a good person.

EXACTLY. Parents should do the PARENTING. Let Izzy do the coaching, and lets face it, he does a good job. He had 4 State Champs this year that trained with him.

Footsteps, no, these kids don't have responsible parents who are more influential in their lives than Izzy. These kids all live together in a commune in an undisclosed section of Glendale Heights where it is like "Lord of the Flies," except that Israel Martinez is their leader, a la Jack in the novel. I hear that they sit around in their singlets having nightly bonfires, eating of raw meats off of the bone and late-night chanting of "Izzy Style! Izzy Style! Izzy Style!"

Follow the footsteps of their leader/coach? Do these kids not have parents to guide them in life? Get some lives douche bags. No one is telling you to pay for your kids to go to him. Just waste your money paying 3 grand to go to OT and get no results. But your kid gets to have an overtime gym bag and you get a t-shirt.(btw, you have to pay extra for that crap too.) Yeah you guys are good.

Cool!!!!!! and Izzy is a pimp get to no him before u say crape about him

Won a JUCO title at North Idaho. Transferred to ICCC the following year to use it as a "redshirt" where he ran into some problems and dropped out, never competing for Iowa in an Iowa singlet. Was at Harper College for a few moments ayear or so later, three weight classes up. Qualified for Nationals that year and was a no show.

i don't know this guy or anything about him but you folks who make comments about his crooked hat and style are just a bunch of parochial old fashioned morons.

I am sure he preaches to not following in his footsteps. The problem with this is kids will do what their leader/role models have done no matter what they tell them. In fact when someone like this tells them not to follow their footsteps it more than likely will make them want to do it more.

I would not pay to have this guy coach my kids.

israel has made mistakes but he constantly tells his wrestlers not to follow in his footssteps... he didnt go to college but he constantly talkts to the likes of tom brands and other coaches. he trained at the OTC. Look at steven robertson and what he did with him and tell me he cant make great wrestlers. and he shows up to 95% of offseason tournys

talk to people before you start throwing stones

How can this guy take a kid to the college level if he didnt experience it?

He uses the Ramos brothers name to make himself look better. He knows with out the mom paying for his expenses he would be no where. The Ramos brothers along with blanton and the others would have been successful with out him.

This guy is a joke. He is a very danagerous man.I believe it was his temper is what landed him in jail.He was a former coach of my son. He did not show up to off season tournaments or he was to hung over to coach.Dont waste your money on him.He can not get a real job because of the back ground check.

There are some pretty diverse opinions about Izzy. I was on his website and saw he has an outstanding high school and junior college career. What happened in college? His bio on his website says while attempting to wrestle at Iowa? It seems like he could have been a stud. Just wondering.

Fat, high and stupid is no way to go through life, son.

Izzy doesn't get to take credit for all the Kids his father coached.

Jose Martinez is a terrific kids coach in every respect. The problem people have with Izzy is his past which is riddled with shadiness and also his loyalty problems.

For those of you who commented negatively, what have you done for the sport? Nothing, I didn't have to be a braniac to guess that.

Maybe he should have a shaved head and no personality like Bormet. Leave the guy a lone, He is young and is pretty down to earth. Maybe he should wear a sweater vest and speak in old english. His dress should have nothing to do with his coaching/wrestling abilities.

Hate on Haters!

i remember when izzy and me hung out on the weekends....we sure got Kaaaaaacrazy!!!

I remember when he was at nic and he was just a beast on the mat, but a different cat off it. hope he keeps up the good work and stays out of trouble

why part ii, I hope that you know that there is a massive difference between turning out the occasional state qualifier and consistently developing state champions and state place winners. Izzy, as much as people don't like to give him credit, has been working with a large number of the kids in his current club dating back to the MFVE days when they were grade schoolers, while he was just a kid himself. Should he be vilified by people like you because parents choose to send their kids to him and his club before they are of high school age?

Have you priced out Izzy Style? I know what it costs, but do you? You'd be surprised to find that it is quite affordable. To what you said about your thought that families should not have to pay extra for good coaching, what about those who choose to? The market is there, my friend, whether you like that or not. You want top notch coaching in the sport for next to no money? Then drive your kids to Harvey three nights a week if cheap prices are how you will determine how far you'll allow yourself to go in the sport.

Explain to us all how Israel is not giving back to the sport.

You and I have clearly different definitions about what "wrestling is all about." The cold, hard fact is that there's nothing wrong with Israel Martinez making wrestling as his living. He's a specialist in the field of wrestling and one of the best students our sport has at any level today in this country. So why would he choose to do something else if what he is best at in life is developing young wrestlers into some of the state's best at the kids level and then taking those same kids once they are in high school and developing them into some of the best in the entire country? The results speak for themselves, and they do so in a very, very loud tone. IZZY STYLE!

who the hell is this guy? what has he done on the national level, best wrestling is the wrestling corridor....ohio to pa to jersey.......

WAIT, HUH? illinois is one of the best wrestling states? isnt ohio, pa, jersey, oklahoma, michigan all ahead?

Yo esses izz iz the man. He hooked me up w/a phatty j the other nite. maid me realize i need to focus on eating and tiltin my fairtex condoms hat while i drive my taurus through the tuff streetz of aurora.

How can you say Israel cheats? Isn't Balco calling Mr. Spangler right now?

ALL I HEAR ABOUT THIS GUY IS HOW TALENTED HE WAS. CAN SOMEONE PLEASE POST A VIDEO OF HIM WRESTLING?

Izzy is kinda gay but he was a good wrestler!

I don't doubt his practices are hard now. I just find it funny he talked about his hard work ethic. From every account I have ever heard, when he wrestled he was very lazy and relied heavily on his talent, which he had an unbelievable amount.

Your right, they are not having the same results as Izzy, because, like Izzy pointed out in the video, those coaches don%u2019t just coach kids who have been wrestling all their life. They develop young men who started in 8th grade or even freshmen year and turn them into state qualifiers and state medallists. Those coaches take wrestlers to developmentals every weekend. Believe it or not they%u2019re wrestlers who want to get better but don%u2019t have money for Izzy style or Overtime. I worry about wrestling becoming a battle of have and have-nots. A family should not have to have extra income for their wrestler to get good coaching. For me, that is what wrestling is all about, giving back to the sport. All I know is that when I started wrestling, my freshmen year, my family couldn%u2019t afford to send me to a club, but I was lucky enough to have a coach who opened his rooms to any kid that wanted to get better. Good for Izzy making money off wrestling, but when he strolls into a gym when other coaches have bracketed the wrestlers, helped with weigh-ins, and worked tables, and acts like he owns the place and complains about refs who are also learning, that when he rubs people the wrong way.

lazy style? come watch an izzy style practice and then say something about lazy.. all of you people that say bad things about izzy are pretty much retarded. you have no idea who he is or what he is about

Izzystyle is affordable overtime is a extrodinarly expenisve and hasnt produced the same results in high school state as Izzystyle. Izzy produced 4 state champs and every kid I've talked to who is involved with his club respects Izzy as a person and coach and would love to wrestle for him in a broncos singlet. You haters are just jelaous that Izzy tore it up in his competion days probally teched some of those jokers

I don't hear people whining about Sean Bormet making money off of the sport. I don't hear people crying about Ernie Monaco making a living off of his school, or the new "wrestling schools" popping up all over the nation, let alone in Illinois. Izzy is making a living at what he does best - coaching young wrestlers and making many of them into great wrestlers. Why does everyone in this sport complain when someone makes a dime at it? All of the sudden the guy is evil for letting his greatest gift pay his bills? If all of those other coaches who spend their time making Illinois great want to do it for free, then those are their choices, for better or for worse, that is for them to decide. Go watch the movie "Robots." The "Bigweld" character is always talking about "filling a need" with his inventions. Izzy simply filled a need he saw out there and why shouldn't he make money on it? Welcome to capitalism, folks! That's the kid's version of the early 20th Century in the United States! Now tell me how many of those other guys who are so noble and are doing it for free are having the same results as Israel... I'll be waiting for the answer.

Did he actually reference his work ethic? That is funny.

illinois killed at Junior Nationals last year...So in Freestyle you would have to make a case for Illinois for the best last year.

Lock jaw - Go back to officiating grade school wrestling.

Did Martin say Illinois was one of the top wrestling states if not #1. Did he snort a line before the interview?

Izzy I am proud of you you are doing a great job with your kids and from what I have seen they seem to love you. Dont talk about it be about it

Real man of genius - You're a stiff.

Scrutinize this guy all you want, hes a good guy and great coach.

Martin, there are so many other coaches in Illinois that you could have interviewed. Illinois wrestling has so many coaches that volunteer their time and effort and coach wrestlers simply for the love of the sport. Those coaches, who don%u2019t want glory or money, are trying to make Illinois wrestling the best in the nation. Every weekend there are coaches who volunteer their weekends at Greco and freestyle developmentals. They help with brackets, coach kids who workout in their room, work tables, and sometimes even ref. However, guys like Izzy just complain about the refs and complain how %u201Ctheir wrestlers%u201D don%u2019t get good enough matches and want special treatment.

Great fruits and veggies there at North and Clybourn.

Izzy is a great motivator, a great technician, a great coach and he's teaching kids not to make the mistakes that he made.

why?, real man of genius and wrong know nothing at all about Izzy. I can speak from first hand knowledge that he is a good dude who is as good for the sport as any coach you'll find out there.

Izzy Style!

Izzy is a great coach and produces great results with his wrestlers. There's no arguement for that. He truely puts the time in to get to know his guys and works with them to wrestle the way he knows they're capable

Wrestling has seen its worst day.

Today, we salute you Martin. I've lost all respect for you. How can you with a good conscience put this idiot, with his hat cocked and his fat face, as a headline? Izzy has done nothing for the sport but revolutionize ways to cheat. My hat is off to you Martin, you are a real man of genius.

Nico Lopez couldn't be more wrong. People actually dislike him more as a person. As a coach, he does what it takes but as a person I would rather hang out with Hitler than this goofball.

I still remember the first time I saw him as a cadet @ espoir nationals 1995? he was coaching friends like a head coach. I think people dont dislike him as a person just they believe he wasted his talent with dumb mistake it good to see he not wasting his knowledge with wrestling good luck Izzy.