Martin Signs with William Penn University

By Don Eskins

On Tuesday, May 6, at Carlsbad High, Cavegirl Aaliyah Martin signed a letter of intent to wrestle collegiately for the William Penn University Statesmen during the 2025-26 school year. WPU, an NAIA school that competes in the Heart of America Conference, is located in Oskaloosa, IA.

During the 2024-25 grappling season, the Statesmen placed second in conference. At the NAIA national tournament, they placed fourth in a field of 35.

According to CHS head wrestling coach Mark Pratt, the Statesmen landed a good one—certainly one of CHS’s best.

“Aaliyah was a leader, had a great work ethic, and was definitely an asset to our program. I think it’s her work ethic that will allow her to be successful at William Penn University,” Pratt said. “But they’ll be getting much more than just a great athlete from Carlsbad. Aaliyah is also a great student. She’ll be carrying a 4.0 GPA with her to WPU. For her efforts in the classroom, she was named an Academic All-American.”

Martin, at 235 lbs.., wrestled only her senior year in Carlsbad. A transfer student from Wyoming, she placed fifth at state during her sophomore season, 2022-23. As a junior, 2023-24, she was Wyoming’s runner-up. Post-season honors saw her being selected as a member of Wyoming’s National Wrestling Team.

As a Cavegirl, 2024-25, Martin posted an individual record of 26-4, which included six tournament championships. At this year’s state tournament, she finished second among all Class 5A grapplers.

Life as a Cavegirl

Coming from a small school in Wyoming, Martin said walking into the Cavegirl practice facility for the first time was a bit intimidating.

“Yeah, I was really nervous on my first day,” said Aaliyah. “I’d never seen anybody wrestling from New Mexico before. As for the Cavegirls, I wasn’t sure at all how their program operated.

“I thought, this team looks really good; I hope I don’t get beat up too bad today,” she said with a chuckle. “But the coaches and athletes made me feel at home right away. All of them were so supportive of me throughout the season.

“Especially helpful to me were my practice partners Faith Abeyta, Jackson Powell, and Jacklyn Powell,” said the WPU bound wrestler. “They’re about my size. I’d never had anybody about my size to practice with before.”

On to William Penn

Initially not her first choice, Martin said, after a little soul searching, WPU turned out to be the perfect fit for her.

“At the end of my junior year in Wyoming, I began reaching out on the web for possible places to wrestle in college. I contacted several schools; WPU wasn’t one of them,” said Aaliyah. “WPU’s coach, Jake Kadel, contacted me. To be honest, though, I really didn’t think it was the kind of school I was looking for.

“But coach Kadel kept getting back to me,” she said. “He began to make me feel like I would really be a welcomed asset to his program.”

Although Dakota Wesleyan in South Dakota and York University in Nebraska were on Aaliyah’s list of schools to check out, WPU was the first college she visited.

“I fell in love with WPU right away. It has a beautiful campus, and their athletic facilities are great,” she said. “Also, because it’s an NAIA school, it isn’t super big. It’s a small school and it felt like home to me, like my home in Wyoming. After visiting a bit more with Coach Kadel, I was ready to sign.”

Aaliyah plans to major in Nursing at William Penn University.

Aaliyah is the daughter of Chantelle Martin and Chase Steinke (stepfather). She has a sister, Paisley Steinke, and two brothers, Van Steinke and Andre Ayala.