Mike McCready

2005 Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame Inductee

June 19, 1950 – December 16, 1999

Despite being a “late bloomer,” Mike McCready quickly distinguished himself as a champion wrestler and a top-notch collegiate coach, whose career was cut far too short by a fatal heart attack in 1999.

McCready did not start wrestling at Dubuque Senior High until his junior year, but he quickly rose through the ranks, placing fifth at state as a senior.

It was at the University of Northern Iowa that McCready began to make a name for himself, becoming a three-time All-American. In 1972, he won the Division II National Championship and followed that up with a third-place finish in the Division I tournament (his only loss coming in the semifinals to Iowa State’s Chris Taylor). Not a one-sport athlete, McCready also won a national shot-put title and remains the only two-sport All-American at UNI.

McCready also excelled in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, capturing 15 national championships. In 1975, he won a Pan American Games gold medal, and he earned silver at the 1973, 1975, and 1976 World Cups. He also won the Olympic Trials in 1976, but an injury in the championship match kept him from competing in the Games.

“Mike earned everything he got,” said former teammate Jim Miller. “He had an unbelievable work ethic.” Miller also noted that McCready was an assistant coach at UNI in 1974—the last year the Panthers beat Iowa.

Family ties brought Mike back to Iowa in 1985, when he took the head coaching position at Upper Iowa University in Fayette. Described as the “Dean of Iowa Wrestling Coaches” by a contemporary, Mike went on to coach 17 All-Americans while compiling a 252-237-6 dual meet record in the tough Iowa Conference. Four of his wrestlers won national titles, and four others were named Scholastic All-Americans.

He also earned two master’s degrees and was a thesis away from completing his doctorate at the University of Iowa.

Described as a very straightforward individual when dealing with wrestlers, Miller noted, “He was there for them… not just for the wrestling.” Mike’s wife Julie added, “Mike would tell you each and every wrestler was notable. He cared about each one, and to a lot of them, he was the only ‘Dad’ they ever knew.”

Mike was inducted into the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2005, along with Bob Steenlage, Royce Alger, and Dick Black.