TRADITION
By Jason Bryant Back in 1974, Art Martori wondered what he could do to give back to wrestling, the sport he loved.
Blessed with the financial means from his lucrative Martori Farms business, which is a major fruit supplier to the western United States, Martori set off to do something a little different. Create an elite-level wrestling club which would not only spur growth in the sport of wrestling in Arizona, but build world and Olympic champions for the United States. Thirty-six years later, the Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club sits as one of the dominant forces in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, with a stable of athletes accomplished enough to cre- ate their own Hall of Fame. Sunkist’s roots start with the Phoenix-based Wristlock Club. “I wrestled for the Wristlock club and we were like vagabonds,” said Martori. “I had a car … that ran and we’d drive from tournament to tournament, get a room and gather our money to get some baloney and a loaf of bread. That’s the way it was back in the 60’s.”
Martori describes himself as someone who wasn’t a very good wrestler, but someone with a passion for the sport, looked to change things.
“I tried out for the 1968 Olympic Team and started to work and make a little money,” he said. “We started the Sunkist Kids in 1974 and appeared in 1976 with the idea that athletes don’t have to (be vagabonds) and we could send them to different locations.”
Martori has funded the Sunkist Kids since its inception based on his business as one of the top growers in the country. The name, in fact, Sunkist Kids, is a direct result of Martori Farms production as one of Sunkist’s top growers. “That was very calculated,” said Martori of his club’s name. “I went to Sunkist and said I’d like to call my club Sunkist Kids. Why? Because it gives us international world recognition right off the bat. You go to Russia, they know what Sunkist is. You go to Japan, they know what Sunkist is. They attribute it to quality. “Calling the club Sunkist Kids and commercializing every- thing, they’d give us status sooner than calling them the Rockets,” Martori explained. “When you go to a tournament and
12 USA Wrestler
OF EXCELLENCE
Art Martori’s Sunkist Kids club has supported some of the best wrestlers in American history, including Olympic gold medalists John Smith, Cael Sanderson, Rulon Gardner and Dave Schultz.
“We’re about helping athletes be able to participate without a bunch of pain.” - Art Martori
you have Sunkist on your name, they feel there’s something behind that.” The roots of the club come from one of Martori’s mentors,
Tom Dubin.
“I wanted to do something other than football and I wanted to get involved with wrestling,” said Martori. “I went down to the YMCA and he caught my interest and I enjoyed the sport. The main reason there is a Sunkist is Tom Dubin getting me involved. He took a kid who didn’t know anything, like we’re doing with the Academy and that’s kind of the model with what we’re doing now. It’s what Tom did with me.” While the Sunkist Kids provides funding, travel and a litany of supportive resources for athletes, Martori’s pleased with the development of the local wrestling academy. “I’m happy we have (six) kids on the Olympic Team,” said Martori. “Most did that on their own. We’ve helped like other people have helped them, but in our academy, we are the rea- son the kids are better and coming out as better kids.” “Tim Gressley works for us on a daily basis with the adminis- trative work and coordination and takes care of our academy,” said Martori. “Very few people know we’ve been state champi- ons in middle school five years in a row. Now those kids are high school champions and getting recruited to Division I schools. We’re really proud of that.” In the early days, Sunkist Kids was starting out a local club and, according to Martori, “had a few athletes we thought were pretty good.”
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