(Red Oak) — Red Oak’s Justin McCunn entered his college decision process with a plan in place and the hopes of following his “championship lifestyle”. It led him to the NAIA’s most dominant wrestling program.
“It feels good,” McCunn said. “There was kind of plan in place all along, but I wasn’t sure where it was going to be at. Now I know where I can get a degree in what I want, and wrestle.”
McCunn, a three-time state medalist and a 2019 state finalist at 160 pounds, recently committed to Grand View, but also explored the possibility of attending Buena Vista, Loras and Iowa State.
“It just kind of came down to feeling like my best was going to be Loras or Grand View,” McCunn said. “So it just came down to the location and degree.”
The fact that Grand View has won the last nine national titles helped, too.
“The dominance and the level of competition they look for because I never shy away from tough competition,” McCunn said. “They preach living a championship lifestyle and just being the best student-athlete you can be.”
The phrase “championship lifestyle” is not a new one to McCunn and has been repeated by his high school coach, Tiegen Podliska throughout his time at Red Oak.
“They (Grand View) think the same way we do,” McCunn said. “That’s what helped me connect with those coaches really well.”
McCunn will join multiple former KMAland wrestlers at Grand View including Trevor Anderson (Glenwood), Sam Gregory (Treynor), Steven Gregory (Treynor), Nathan Haynes (Missouri Valley), Chase McLaren (Atlantic) and Zac Stork (Atlantic).
“Grand View’s got a lot of Southwest Iowa guys,” McCunn said. “There’s a lot of guys there from the state of Iowa that I’ve wrestled with. It will make it feel a little bit more at home right away, so I’m excited about that.”
McCunn is unsure how he’ll fit into Grand View’s lineup next year.
“I’d like to think I can make an impact as quick as possible,” McCunn said. “It might just be a year to get settled into college, compete in some opens and take a redshirt. I’ll probably move up a weight class. When I’m there, it’s going to feel a lot better and everything will just work out fine.”
McCunn plans to study Applied Math at Grand View with the hopes of turning it into an engineering degree after his college career is done. He also intends to wrestle at 174 pounds and has lofty goals for his college career.
“I never got a state title, but a national title would be a lot sweeter,” McCunn said.
The complete interview with McCunn can be heard below.
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