COMMUNITY: A love for boxing

Editor's note: Megan Lehman will enroll at the University of Iowa in the fall to study communications and journalism.

IOWA CITY - Martin Schuh was a typical high school athlete, playing football and baseball and running track.

But it was boxing that intrigued him most.

“I began boxing because it was different from what everyone else was doing, like wrestling or basketball, and I fell in love with it,” said Schuh, a 22-year-old University of Iowa junior who took his boxing career to the next level by bringing home the bronze from this year's National Golden Gloves Championships held in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Schuh's boxing career started at the Fort Dodge Boxing Club in 2001 at the age of 10. He continued training there for 11 years until the fall of 2012 when he began training with ICOR Boxing Club in Iowa City.

A five-time Iowa Golden Gloves champion, Schuh said he will never forget winning his first title at the age of 17.

“It showed me that all the hard work I put in over the years paid off and was completely worth it,” he said.

The biggest influence in Schuh's boxing career and life is his former boxing coach, Ron Walstrom from Fort Dodge Boxing Club. Walstrom's positive outlook on life and coaching style gave Schuh the motivation and drive to make it to where he is today.

Emily Klinefelter, a former national amateur champion and professional, is coaching Schuh at the ICOR club.

“I admire that Martin has a balanced approach to boxing and while boxing is very important to him, he doesn't neglect the other things in life, such as school, his girlfriend, and his friends and family,” Klinefelter said. “Martin's ability to maintain a balance between boxing and his other priorities in life has allowed him to have a lengthy career and has kept him from getting burned out.”

Schuh isn't interested in a professional career. He wants to continue to enjoy the competition and traveling amateur boxing allows him.

“I plan to coach and bring the love of boxing to other 10-year-old kids like I was,” he said.