Iowa Western wrestler who died in crash was ‘always giving 110%’ | Obituaries
Max Hughes “approached everything he did with passion, always giving 110%,” his mother said.
Max Hughes is remembered by many as a standout wrestler, but his family’s favorite memories of the 21-year-old have nothing to do with his record as an athlete.
Barb Hughes’ favorite memories of her son include “the simple things.”
“My best memory is the normal side of him,” she said. “The little boy wanting to play in the mud puddles and play with his dog and drive the Gator too fast on the farm, all those things that have nothing to do with wrestling.”
Hughes, who wrestled for the Iowa Western Community College Reivers, and Christian Miller, a 21-year-old junior on the Husker wrestling team, both died Thursday in an early morning crash in Lincoln.
The two were longtime friends, Barb Hughes said. Though they went to different high schools, Hughes at Syracuse and Miller at Plainview, they would compete in club wrestling together.
“A couple times after Christian won state and Max won state, Christian came home with Max. Instead of celebrating with his team he wanted to celebrate with Max,” Barb Hughes said.
Under his “tough-guy exterior” Hughes had “nothing but a soft heart on the inside,” his mother said. “He approached everything he did with passion, always giving 110%.”