STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — The sport of wrestling has always been a part of Max Dean's life. "I have been on wrestling mats and around wrestling teams since my earliest memories," Dean said.
His father, David Dean, was a coach at Michigan State for 13 years. During that period, Dean was three or four years old and he would run around and have fun with some of the Spartans. After some time, his father decided to move away from college wrestling.
"He took a high school coaching job so that he could coach my brother and I," Dean said. "That way he would be able to be around us more." It was a big move, but one that Dean and the rest of the family appreciated. "There was just a lot of unconditional love and a super tight knit family," Dean said.
He credits the support of his father as the main factor that drove him to get into wrestling as a child. When Dean was about six years old, his parents took him to a tournament to compete in one of his first wrestling matches for fun. At some point during the match he was down 14-0 and in jeopardy of losing by tech-fall. Then, out of nowhere, Dean flipped his opponent onto his back and pinned him.
"After the match my mom asked what happened and I said that I was tired of being out there. I just wanted to go home," Dean said. Slowly, but surely Dean got more into wrestling. His father would take him and his brother, Gabe Dean, to wrestling practices. Every time after practice on their way home, Dean's father would make a pit stop and get them a treat of their choosing.
"We would get home from practice with ice cream or a slushie in our hand. Our mom would ask us how it went and we would say it was awesome," Dean said. While he was little, the treats after practice impacted how fun he thought the sport was, but Dean has always had a positive connection with wrestling.
In particular a concrete connection with his role model.
"First and foremost, it's my dad. He is someone who is very stoic with good poise under pressure," Dean said. "He has the ability to work hard while being a kind person at the same time." Dean has learned a lot from his father, however, there are two lessons that stand out to him the most.
He has learned that it is important to treat people the way you want to be treated as well as to not break on what you believe in, even when it's tough. Even when Dean might be upset in a certain situation, he stays true to who he is and his values. "That's the key to a good and happy life," Dean said. "I really believe that in the long term it pays itself back to you."
An overarching theme that is important to Dean in life as well as wrestling is honesty. For him it's about being able to be honest with yourself. Dean recognizes that he has been humbled throughout his career and needed to be honest with himself about things he should change. "If you can't be honest with yourself about where you're at, then, you're probably not going to be able to make any improvements," Dean said.
That is how Dean continues to improve as a wrestler as well as a person. "There's always something you can do better. So just in terms of other areas of my life, wanting to know more and wanting to do better is important," Dean said.
