Laurel's Max Long will be inducted into the University of Northern Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame as part of the 1949-50 wrestling team.

The ceremonies will be part of Panther homecoming weekend Oct. 17.

Long competed at 175 pounds for the team, which claimed the 1950 NCAA championship and the national AAU team title as well. Under the direction of head coach Dave McCusky the 1950 Panthers finished with an unblemished 11-0 record in duals.

"We had a very good coach and we really thought the world of him," Long said. "We always referred to ourselves as Mac's Boys, in honor of our coach."

The Panthers also captured the AAU title in 1949. The 1950 team competed for what was then known as Iowa State Teachers College and remains the only team sport at UNI to win a Division I national title.

"I am really honored to be considered for it," Long said. "We had quite a group of wrestlers there and there were a lot of champions (three won NCAA individual championships). I graduated from Missouri Valley High School in Iowa and I went into the service and spent three years in the South Pacific (during World War II). After I got out I went to Iowa State Teachers College. I started there in the fall of 1946 and graduated in 1950 with a degree in education."

Long, who served in the Air Force for three years, moved to Laurel in 1951 and started to work at the Cenex Refinery as an operator. He retired in 1987 from the plant. He is a native of Iowa.

Long, 84, said his wife Dorothy and son Kyle will travel with him on the HOF trip to Cedar Falls, Iowa. While reuniting with his former teammates they will attend a luncheon and the induction ceremonies, plus the annual homecoming football game against Southern Illinois.