#6 Max Murin Commits to the Iowa Hawkeyes

The Young Guns pipeline keeps paying off for the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Central Cambria senior Max Murin, a three-time PIAA State medalist and three-time Fargo All-American, told PA Power Wrestling on Friday night that he has committed to wrestle for Iowa.

Murin is the fifth Young Guns wrestler to commit to the Hawkeyes in the past two years. Franklin Regional’s Michael Kemerer, who will look to start for Iowa this season as a redshirt freshman, started the trend. Punxsutawney’s Kaleb Young followed suit last season.

A few months ago, the Hawkeyes delivered a powerful 1-2 punch, as Franklin Regional ‘s Spencer Lee and Jefferson Morgan’s Gavin Teasdale, who will be a junior this season, each verbally committed to Iowa.

Murin, who is ranked #6 in Pennsylvania’s graduating class of 2017, was a 2015 PIAA State Champion and joins #1 Spencer Lee as the second top ten PA recruit for Iowa.

Murin said that he’s not going because the other Young Guns wrestlers did, but instead because it’s the right fit for him.

So why is Murin heading to Iowa City instead of staying closer to home at Penn State or Pitt, which were his other top choices?

“It’s just my dream to go to Iowa,” he said. “Not many people get to live out their dream. I’m one of the lucky ones.”

Murin said that Strittmatter, who was a two-time All-American at Iowa after winning a pair of Division II National titles at Pitt-Johnstown, didn’t do anything to push him toward the Hawkeyes.

“He didn’t tell me to go to any college,” Murin said. “He stayed out of my whole recruiting process. The only time he’d say anything is if I asked.”

Strittmatter said he hasn’t pushed wrestlers toward Iowa any more than he has toward other schools. He pointed out that Young Guns has had a formidable presence at Penn State (Nico Megaludis, Jimmy Gulibon and Jason Nolf) or at Virginia (Sam Krivus, Jake Shaffer and Micky Phillippi).

“Any time you get one kid going there, a couple others go and they feel comfortable with their friends there,” Strittmatter said.

Murin said that in addition to a quality education, Iowa can help him achieve his goals in wrestling.

“I want to win national championships, world championships and Olympic championships,” he said.
Murin hopes to redshirt next season and grow into a bigger weight. He said ending up at 141, 149 or even 157 are all possibilities.

“I don’t see him being 141,” Strittmatter said. “I see him being bigger. He’s extremely disciplined. You don’t need to worry about Max at 11 o’clock on a Friday night or at 1 a.m. All you have to worry about is him getting better at wrestling. His grades are going to be great. He’s a clean-cut kid. He’ll listen to his coaches and do anything they say. As a coach, you love that kind of kid. He’s all in.”

Iowa was all in when it came to Murin. He said that Tom and Terry Brands have recruited him heavily, calling him as soon as NCAA rules permitted them to do so during his junior year and visiting his house on the first day they were allowed to.

They made a big impression on him.

“I love the Brands,” Murin said. “They’re just great guys. They’re just genuine people.”

Murin said he’s made five trips to Iowa City – twice to watch the Hawkeyes – and he was impressed by what he saw.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “It’s like no other place in the country. The people of Iowa have a love of wrestling and they definitely show it at Carver-Hawkeye.”

Murin said his parents didn’t push him to stay closer to home.

“My parents, they let me make my own decision,” he said. “My mom loves Penn State. I think she was leaning toward Penn State, but they just wanted me to be happy and do what I wanted.”