CHESAPEAKE, Va. - Great Bridge senior Max Martin has become a master of the mat, putting together quite the high school wrestling career.
The sport is a family affair for Max, who comes from a family of star wrestlers. He's crafting his wrestling legacy with his father by his side. Former Iowa wrestler and Old Dominion head coach Steve Martin is the head coach at Great Bridge.
"I can look to him for guidance when I go home, look over technique - it's a lot easier to get better," said Max. "He's by far the best coach in the country, high school coach ever, so having him as my coach, I wouldn't want anything else."
"He, at first, wasn't into wrestling all that much," Steve recalled. "He was around the program at Old Dominion when I was coaching there, so he kind of by osmosis got drug into it."
The younger Martin has grown into one of the top high school wrestlers in the Commonwealth, joining exclusive company at Great Bridge. He's on the wall of state champions in the Wildcats' wrestling room thanks to his triumph in 2020, a dream of many who pass through the school.
"It means a lot," Max said. "I was that little kid that wanted to be a state champion, be up on the wall."
This weekend, he hopes to make it two state crowns, as he chases another title in the 120 lbs weight class at the Class 4 State Championship meet in Virginia Beach.
"One just isn't enough," the Wildcat senior said. "You look at everyone up on the wall, they've got multiple state titles. I want to get another one up there because you've just got to keep climbing. You can't get enough."
When Max walks off the mat for the final time at the state championship meet, it will not mark the end of his wrestling career. He'll take his skill set to the ACC, suiting up for North Carolina at the college level.
"Carolina was his dream school that he always wanted to go to and good for him," Steve said. "He achieved his dreams because it's not easy to get recruited by Carolina."
"There's two things I always wanted to do, wrestling in college and be a state champ," recalled Max. "Wrestling at UNC is probably a bigger dream to me than winning states so knowing that I have a home there for the next four or five years is the biggest relief ever."
Max's skills don't stop on the wrestling mat. He carries a GPA that eclipses 4.0, is involved in the National Honor Society and was on the homecoming court.
