Ryan Martin, GCISD Director of Facility Use, will be inducted in the University of Central Oklahoma’s Athletics Hall of Fame. The ceremony for the Class of 2023 inductees will be at 6 p.m. Friday, September 15, in the George and Donna Nigh Center on campus and also at halftime of the UCO Hall of Fame Game Saturday, September 16.
“I was not anticipating it or expecting it at all,” said Martin, who started in GCISD in 1998 as a special education and history teacher at Vista, while also coaching wrestling and track at Grapevine High School. He became the head wrestling coach in 2000 and joined GHS as a special education teacher. In 2006, he stepped down from coaching to earn his Master’s degree. Ryan also served as an assistant principal at GHS from 2009-2015 and as interim principal at Colleyville Middle School for a year before moving in 2016 to his current position as director of Facility Use.
Martin wrestled for UCO from 1989-1994, and was a national champion and two-time All-American. He won 91 matches in his four-year career, including 30 bonus-point victories. Martin qualified for nationals three times (1990, 1992, 1994) and was a two-time regional champion in 1992 and 1994. In the 1993-1994 season, Martin finished his career with a 32-12 record that ended with a 5-0 run at the national tournament to claim the 134-pound national title. With the induction of the Class of 2023, there are 172 individuals and 14 teams in the UCO Athletics Hall of Fame.
“Wrestling is both an individual and a team sport so you are developing not only yourself, but also helping others,” which Martin said resulted in a strong bond among his teammates. “I know I haven't talked with many of my college teammates in about 25 years, but I know that if I called them and needed something they would be there.”
He said that the camaraderie and support for others that he experienced during his wrestling years were gifts to him and are the reason why he has remained part of GHS wrestling and in GCISD.