Champ Wrestler Wins Big Off the Mat Too

By: Owen Jensen - Email

Updated: Fri 9:35 AM, Mar 01, 2013

Champ Wrestler Wins Big Off the Mat Too, Owen Jensen Reports

"Keep striving for what you want." --Kenny Martin, champion wrestler

Kenny Martin knows a thing or two about wrestling. He's a state champ after all.

But the 18 year old's biggest victory has been off the mat.

The Lincoln Southwest High School senior recently won the state championship in the 145 pound class and in the process reset his high school's wrestling record books.

However, his home life during high school has been anything but ordinary. That includes bouncing around from home to home for a while, trying to get into a stable household.

Kenny once lived in Omaha with his mom, then moved to Lincoln to live with his dad. Things didn't exactly work out and he moved out.

So, eventually, with the help of LPS's homeless outreach specialists and social service agencies, Kenny was able to get into a transitional housing program, living independently. His mom and dad currently do not live with him.

It sounds rough, to be on your own so young, but Kenny is by all accounts thriving, according to his counselors and mentors.

And he talks like a young man with a bright future:

"Keep striving for what you want, don't lose focus," says Martin, who is also headed to college on a wrestling scholarship.

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