The legendary career that almost wasn't

Newton high school freshman Alberto Martinez thought he would give wrestling a try, although he had never been on the mats before.

However, he didn’t like it much and quit the team.

In a gym class, John Ravenscroft paced before the students who stood at attention. As he passed Martinez, Ravenscroft asked for the 112-pound boy’s name, and then informed him that if there was one thing he didn’t like, it was a quitter.

After this exchange, Ravenscroft looked at the newly hired wrestling coach Dave Winters and informed him that if he was going to get the Newton wrestling program off the ground, he would need a state champion.

Ravenscroft went back to Martinez, looked at Winters and said, “Here is your state champion.”

Not very likely, but Martinez rejoined the team in his sophomore year and gave it another shot.

Whatever Ravenscroft saw in Martinez, he was right.

Martinez, in his second time around, not only won the state championship in his sophomore season, but took home three titles from 1960 to 1962. In that span of time, Martinez had a record of 78-3, finished no worse than second in any of the tournaments he entered, and became the Railers’ only three-time state champion.

Winters had the state champion he needed to launch a program that won five team titles, the first in 1963, the year after Martinez graduated. The next championships came in pairs, winning in ’73 and ’74. The Railers took back-to-back championships again in ’76 and ’77.

One year after the Railers won their first team title, Newton held the first ever Tournament of Champions, one of, if not the toughest tournament in the state—then and now.

It all started with Ravenscroft’s faith in a kid who had given up on the sport, and Winters’ ability to maximize Martinez’s potential.