Max Murin will return to the lineup at 141 lbs. for the Hawks for his sophomore season. Murin finished last season with a strong performance at the NCAA Championships by defeating two ranked opponents and wrestling in the Quarterfinals.
Murin finished last season with a 17-10 record with three pins and four major decisions. After a seventh place finish at the Big Ten’s, Murin picked up two big wins to start the NCAA Tournament with a first round win over #7 ranked Tristan Moran of Wisconsin, 3-2. In the Round of 16 Murin avenged a regular season loss by defeating #9 ranked Michael Carr of Illinois, 4-3. After dropping a close match in the Quarterfinals, Murin was eliminated from the NCAA tournament in the Round of 12.
For Murin to make it to the Quarterfinals and Round of 12 was an accomplishment last year. Now we need to look ahead to what Murin can accomplish this season. To start with, when talking about Murin I always think about what his club coach Jody Strittmatter of Young Guns had to say about him. I have interviewed Strittmater for my blog and podcast. He had the same theme about Murin each time.
Murin was in Young Guns surrounded by state, national, and even World champions. He was not as talented or successful as his teammates, but he continued to work hard and improve. Strittmatter always made a point to mention that Murin had a close relationship with the weight room and was always working on improving his strength and overall wrestling skills. As a senior in high school Murin had developed into a top recruit and made his way from Ebensburg, Pennsylvania (Central Cambria HS) to Iowa.
With the top three place winners from last year lost to graduation or redshirt, 141 has cleared out quite a bit. Murin is again surrounded by world class talent in the lighter weights in the Iowa room. Now is the time for Murin to make a big jump in his wrestling and make a move for the Hawks.
The biggest obstacle will be finishing shots for clean takedowns. Murin was in deep on shots on all of his opponents last season, but finishing was an issue. Most of Murin’s matches in the regular season and all of his matches at Big Tens and Nationals were very low scoring where there is very little room for error. Murin did show good mat wrestling with effective riding, but he had few turns in the big matches. We need to see the transition from just riding to turning and pinning.
So many wrestlers make a huge jump in their wrestling after that first year in the varsity lineup. About all I can say is that everything is in place for Max Murin to have a very good year for the Hawks.
For Iowa to win the 2020 national team title they will need more than the two points Murin scored at Nationals last year at 141 lbs. I am confident that will happen and Murin will find his way onto the podium as an All-American. What place Murin ends up at will depend on his development in technique finishing his shots for takedowns and putting matches away at the end. The potential is definitely there at one of the more open weights in the country.
2019 NCAA National Championships
Max Murin (17-10) scored 2.0 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Max Murin (Iowa) won by decision over #7 Tristan Moran (Wisconsin) (Dec 3-2)
- Champ. Round 2 – Max Murin (Iowa) won by decision over #9 Michael Carr (Illinois) (Dec 4-3)
- Quarterfinal – #3 Nick Lee (Penn State) 31-4 won by decision over Max Murin (Iowa) (Dec 4-1)
- Cons. Round 4 – #13 Chad Red (Nebraska) 22-14 won by decision over Max Murin (Iowa) (Dec 4-1)
2019 Big Ten Championships
- Champ. Round 1 – Max Murin (Iowa) won by decision over Nate Limmex (Purdue) (Dec 4-0)
- Quarterfinal – Nick Lee (Penn State) won by decision over Max Murin (Iowa) (Dec 8-3)
- Cons. Round 2 – Max Murin (Iowa) won by decision over Pete Lipari (Rutgers) (Dec 6-2)
- Cons. Round 3 – Mitch McKee (Minnesota) won by decision over Max Murin (Iowa) (Dec 2-1)
- 7th Place Match – Max Murin (Iowa) won by decision over Michael Carr (Illinois) (Dec 3-1)
141 lbs. TrackWrestling Ratings on October 15.:
- Dom Demas – Oklahoma, So
- Nick Lee – Pennn State, Jr
- Grant Leeth, Missouir, Jr
- Mitch McKee – Minnesota, Sr
- Kyle Shoop – Lock Haven, Sr
- Chad Red – Nebraska, Jr
- Tariq Wilson – N.C. State, Jr
- Ke-Shawn Hayes – Ohio St, Sr
- Max Murin – Iowa, So
It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.
Go Hawks!
