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.

A native of Dubuque, Iowa, McCready did not start wrestling at Dubuque Senior High until his junior year but quickly rose the ranks as he placed fifth in the state his senior year.

At the University of Northern Iowa, McCready began to make a name for himself as he became a three-time All-American. In 1972 McCready won the Division II National Championship and followed that up with a third-place finish in the Division I field (his only loss coming in the semi-finals to Iowa State's Chris Taylor). McCready is not a "one-sport athlete" and won a national shot put title and is still the only two-sport All American at UNI.

After earning All-American honors at UNI, McCready became one of the nation's top heavyweights winning 15 national titles in freestyle and Greco Roman wrestling—more than any other Iowan. He also won the Olympic Trials in 1976, only to have an injury in the championship match keep him from competing.

Family ties brought McCready 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, McCready went on to coach 17 All Americans while compiling a 252-237-6 dual meet record in the Iowa Conference.