Martin, born with a genetic condition called skeletal dysplasia, is one of the state's best high school wrestlers.
Watch video
He attacks his opponent like a miniature Incredible Hulk. This isn't my description for Devin Martin. This comes from his mother.
The comparison, though, is perfect. Martin doesn't look very intimidating when you first see him step onto the wrestling mat. He is just 4-foot-7. He has skeletal dysplasia, a genetic condition often called dwarfism that impacted his bone and cartilage growth as a child.
Fans gather around the mat whenever he wrestles for Dwight Morrow High in Englewood. Kids from other teams stop and stare, while rival coaches scramble to come up with something -- anything -- to tell his opponents as they try to figure out how beat him.
No one quite knew what to expect at first. They do now, and it's almost always the same thing.
A complete and thorough you-know-what kicking.
"He's memorable," said Charles Taylor, his high school coach. "When fans see him on the mat, they want to see what he's going to do. And he doesn't disappoint."
![]()
Martin isn't just one of the most unusual wrestlers in the state. He is also one of the best. The 132-pound senior is the first district champion out of Dwight Morrow since the school revived its wrestling program five years ago, dominating an opponent from powerhouse Bergen Catholic en route to that title as everyone in the gym went bananas.
He expects to keep winning until the referee is raising his arm in Atlantic City in a couple weeks after a state championship. Bet against him? Do yourself a favor and don't.
I watched him practice this week against a teammate who wrestles at 160 pounds and had about a foot-and-a-half height advantage. I have to admit, I thought it was an unfair mismatch. And it was ... for the bigger kid. Martin beat him soundly, at one point lifting him over his shoulder and throwing to the mat.
Remember that famous moment in professional wrestling -- you know, the fake stuff -- when Hulk Hogan picked up Andre the Giant? It wasn't quite that. But it was impressive.
Martin doesn't see his short stature as a limitation. He uses it as advantage. He is a 132-pound wrecking ball with the speed and power of wrestlers that are 40-pounds heavier and a low center of gravity that leaves even his best opponents at a loss for how to attack him.
"My strength catches them off guard," Martin said, which is hard to believe given the gun show he reveals when he rolls up his sleeves. "They can see that my strength is there, but when I attack them with it, they're not ready for it. They're like, 'Whoa.'"
The 50 most influential people in HS sports
If an opponent attacks his legs -- which, by the way, are so thick they look like they should belong to a heavyweight -- Martin can spring around him before he can recover. And if that opponent tries to overpower him, he can use his balance and strength to stop him.
"Because he's learned to master his body, it works to his advantage," Taylor said. "He has trained for everyone else, but no one has trained for someone like him. Whenever we hear other coaches trying to coach against him, we think, 'Yeeeaaaah, that's not going to work.'"
This won't surprise anyone who has followed his athletic career. His mother, Wendy Martin, was concerned about letting him play football in junior high. All of the other kids, she thought, were much bigger. What if somebody bowled him over?
Martin not only made the team, but he played nose guard. His success knocking down the quarterback -- or anyone else standing in his way -- earned him the nickname "Truck." Mom was quickly relieved that her son was the one doing the bowling, and the high school coaches even asked him to come out for the team this year. He politely declined.
He wasn't an immediate success as a wrestler, winning only one match his freshman year. "I wasn't going to come back the second year, but luckily coach saw me leaving school and said, 'You're going to come to practice, right?'" Martin said. "And I said, 'I guess I've got to go now.'"
It was the right decision. He went 6-6 his sophomore year and then, as a junior, quadrupled that win total. He is 31-6 this season with 15 pins. That success has led to Martin getting recognized around Englewood, with his mother marveling at how many younger kids look up to him.
![]()
He has their back, too. Martin hasn't endured any taunts about his size, but he'll quickly come to the defense of any kid who is getting bullied. He is more than a strong wrestler. He is a strong person, too, and one who's always been comfortable in his own skin."
He doesn't display the disappointment that his stature is not like his friends who are all daggum 6-feet tall, but internally, I'm sure that bothers him to a degree," Wendy Martin said. "But he's got God. He's got his family. And he's good."
He might have something else when the weekend is over: A trip to Atlantic City. He'll face undefeated Luke Mazzeo (33-0) in the Region 2 quarterfinals at Mount Olive High on Friday, which means -- as usual -- he will be regarded as an underdog.
But he'll also have the crowd on his side. People don't just stop and stare when Martin steps onto the wrestling mat now. They stop, stare and cheer.
"I think Devin is very aware of his stature and that makes him fight even harder," Wendy Martin said. "But that's not him fighting against the world. That's him fighting to be the best that he can be."
Steve Politi may be reached at spoliti@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevePoliti. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
