Max Murin revered for toughness in Iowa wrestling room

A black eye, a knot on the forehead, swelling and plenty of scrapes and cuts.

Iowa’s Max Murin has walked off the mat with each of them at one time or another. They occur so frequently due to his style of wrestling that he even joked at the 2019 Big Ten Conference tournament at Minnesota about not leading with his face so much.

It’s also why he received some pretty big praise from a Hawkeye revered for his toughness.

“Max Murin is a warrior in every sense of the word,” Iowa Coach Tom Brands said. “He’s a guy when you see his face when he’s done competing, he stuck it in there. There are stitches and bruises and bumps and those types of things.”

The All-American and two-time NCAA qualifier has climbed as high as eighth in the 149-pound national rankings and has won four straight matches, including a 4-3 decision over Northwestern’s Yahya Thomas last week. Murin (6-1) will have another tough challenge against No. 2 Sammy Sasso when the top-ranked Hawkeyes wrestle No. 6 Ohio State at the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio, Friday.

The hard-nosed and gritty competitor resembles every bit of the area he grew up near Johnstown, Pa., and nestled in the shadow of the Allegheny Mountains. He was a two-time state champion and three-time finalist for Central Cambria High School, placing fifth as a freshman. He developed that mentality and toughness right at home.

“It was definitely just growing up in the southwest Pennsylvania area,” Murin said. “Just a tough blue-collar area. You grow up tough.”

Murin didn’t have to look far for a prime example to follow. He credited his parents, Mike and Tricia, for instilling those traits. They drove Max to be his best and made him work for his goals.

“My dad used to wake me up early in the morning before school and we’d lift,” Murin said. “He’d make me do push-ups before breakfast. He’s pretty tough on me just being a tough southwest Pennsylvania dad. It definitely helped me. I’m definitely thankful.”

Murin wrestled in the famed Young Guns Wrestling Club for former Hawkeye two-time All-American and Big Ten champion Jody Strittmatter. He trained alongside a host of future NCAA Division I standouts, which includes Iowa teammates Spencer Lee, Michael Kemerer and Kaleb Young.

The Young Guns room prepared him for the competition and grind he faced at Iowa.

“Being around Young Guns and a lot of really good wrestlers in that area growing up, then coming to Iowa (it was the) same thing,” Murin said. “So many good wrestlers in the Iowa room. It’s either you’ve got to get tough or you’ve got to go because that’s the only way. If you want to stay here, you’re going to get tough eventually.”

Brands has seen that workmanlike effort daily. He said he loves his approach to the sport. Murin, a senior, missed the first two duals. He’s had some nicks to overcome and sometimes Murin has to be reined in to make sure he trains smarter, not harder.

“We have to monitor him pretty closely to make sure that he’s making the right call each day and not putting himself in situations where he’s doing more harm than good when he’s got options to go a little bit lighter on a day.”

Some of the matches have been a little close for comfort for Murin, who does have two major decisions. Both Murin and Brands agree that he has to light up the scoreboard more and convert on more opportunities throughout the entire match instead of in the final minutes.

“I need to score more points,” Murin said. “It’s plain and simple.”

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