Meet the ‘humble’ doctor whose patients don’t know about his Penn State wrestling record

James Martin has a secret.

Sure, some of his patients at Mount Nittany Health know. But the 57-year-old orthopedist tries to keep it under wraps the best he can. No relevant photos hang from the building’s walls, and no memorabilia is tucked into his private office.

Some of his patients, who’ve seen him for years, still have no idea. And Martin gets a kick out of it. Who cares, he thinks, if some count him among Penn State wrestling royalty? Do a majority of his patients really need to know he won a national title in 1988, or that he remains the Nittany Lions’ all-time leader in wrestling wins with 155?

“If you’re confident in who you are, I don’t think you need to tell people about yourself,” Martin said on a recent weekend, from his office at Mount Nittany Health Orthopedics & Sports Medicine. “I really kind of enjoy the fact when people come in and say, ‘Geez, I knew you for 5 years and didn’t know all this stuff about you.’ I like the fact a lot of people don’t know. They’re just pleased I do my job well.”

Martin is proud of his Penn State career, where he became a four-time All-American. The soft-spoken doctor just doesn’t want to shout it from the rooftops. He was a wrestler he says; now, he is an orthopedist.

Antique photos of Penn State and the State College area decorate some exam rooms, but absent is any hint of his historic 1988 triumph, when he overcame a 4-0 deficit against Iowa’s Brad Penrith by scoring all of his points in the final period to win the national title 5-4. There are no framed record books, showing he’s No. 1 on Penn State’s all-time wins list — five victories ahead of No. 2 Kerry McCoy and 21 ahead of No. 6 David Taylor. And there’s no mention of the fact he never finished worse than fourth in his four national tournament appearances.

The only hint of Martin’s wrestling past is a framed hallway copy of a 1989 Sports Illustrated article titled, “A bruising and brainy twosome,” referring to him and fellow lightweight Ken Chertow, who formed one of the nation’s most fearsome wrestling duos. It’s easy to miss; Martin’s name isn’t splashed over the headlines, and the issue is directly across from several framed photos of Martin’s adult children.

“I can’t recall him ever talking smack,” Chertow said about Martin earlier this week. “He’s a really humble guy. You’ll see no remnants of him being a wrestler over there.”

Chertow and Martin shared a lot in common. In Happy Valley, both were intent on medical school — and both eventually enrolled. Chertow studied at Ohio State before realizing he was made for coaching and Martin, who considered coaching, realized he was made to be an orthopedist.

Martin’s path seemed straight and narrow. He never partied, never drank and studied in the library after practice most days. Chertow said the two could even be spotted studying during the bumpy van rides to places like Bloomsburg, Edinboro and Lock Haven. In the Sports Illustrated story that hangs in the hallway, one medical school interviewer is said to have asked the too-good-to-be-true Martin if he walked on water.

“When you think about sports, to be good at it, you have to be selfish,” Martin said. “Everything you do in training comes down to, ‘This is for me. I want to make myself better.’ And I kind of got tired of just feeling like, ‘I want to do something for myself.’ I felt like I wanted to do something more. ... I really wanted to go out and help other people.”

On a recent weekend morning, while his brick-lined office building sat dark and empty, Martin walked through the front entrance in a red pullover. He could’ve taken the day off but, like most Saturdays, he woke up around 4 a.m., worked out for about 90 minutes — “Which is crazy,” he offered — and then headed over to the office to prepare for the week.

He always made sure he was well-prepared when it came to wrestling at Penn State. And that habit hasn’t dissipated. On this particular Saturday, he sat in front of his computer and broke down a dozen upcoming surgeries like a coach might break down film: What medical conditions does the patient have, and will that impact whether they need to temporarily discontinue any medication before surgery? If implants are needed, how big do they need to be when compared to X-rays? What does the lab work say? What medication is needed once the surgery is completed? Etc.

“Every day in the (operating room), it’s like a wrestling tournament to some degree,” Martin added. “If I have four cases, I look at them beforehand. Each case is a little different, so I have to know the nuances. It’s a lot like going to a wrestling tournament and planning for each match.

“Fortunately, I have a lot more control over this than I did from wrestling.”

Martin was a world-class wrestler at Penn State, one who was recently elected into the Centre County Sports Hall of Fame. And now he’s a world-class orthopedist. In U.S. News & World’s health rankings, Martin boasted a perfect 5/5 overall rating out of 376 reviews and was listed as “Patients Top Choice.” He treats residents and resident athletes, and he’s been part of the community here for more than 20 years.

After residency training at Iowa and a year of fellowship training in Alabama, Martin returned to Happy Valley in 1999. He and Paul Suhey eventually started their own practice, which they sold about three years ago. Suhey is retired in Florida, and Martin works for Mount Nittany Health.

Martin acknowledged he was burned out toward the end of his college career, back when the oft-preached philosophy was that, if training was fun, you were doing it wrong. But he still looks back fondly on his wrestling career, treasuring the lifelong friendships he’s made from the sport — and cherishing his first PIAA and NCAA titles.

But, as an orthopedist, that’s no longer at the forefront of his mind. He still loves the reaction he gets when someone finds out about his wrestling career, which happens at least once a month. But he finds more fulfillment in the clinic than on the mat, hearing from grateful patients whose lives have improved thanks to his work.

“It’s part of my history, but it’s in the past,” Martin said, adding he believed a majority of his patients still don’t know he wrestled. “It’s an important part of who I am and what’s helped me get to this point. But I don’t dwell on that.

“I’m not saving people’s lives here — we’re just trying to improve the quality of people’s lives — but I’m fortunate. I’m just blessed that I get that experience.”