Senior heavyweight Mike McClure finished in fifth place at the NCAA Wrestling Championships with All-American honors earlier this month, but it was not an easy journey.
“Some guys get All-American and make that their goal ... that’s not the note I want to leave on ... I wasn’t satisfied. I want to end my career with no regrets,” McClure said.
Seeded seventh, McClure started the tournament with a match against Pittsburgh’s Patrick Tasser. When they tied and went into overtime, that was when he said he wouldn’t give up.
“That (moment) in the match just clicked. I thought to myself, ‘It’s go time. You worked way too hard. Turn the match around,’” he said.
Taking down Tasser, McClure won the match, 6-4, then proceeded to take fifth place after four more sessions of wrestling, beating No. 3 seed Adam Chalfant.
“I know how hard he’s worked and trained,” head coach Tom Minkel said. “His work ethic is remarkably strong and he is a good leader on the team — not in the verbal sense, but you follow him on what he does.”
What McClure has learned the most from this journey, though, is that he should never have any regrets.
“I wanted to leave it all out there, and that’s exactly what I did,” McClure said. “I wanted to look back and not shed a tear or say, ‘I could’ve gave it more.’”
Minkel said McClure represents all the things you want in an athlete. He said having him around for five years made McClure a part of Minkel.
“You get close to and see them everyday, so it’s hard to see them leave, but you played a role in their development — it’s a lot like parenting,” Minkel said.
Besides the wrestling techniques that allowed him to finish high in the tournament, McClure said Minkel also has helped him grow.
“I had two younger brothers on the team in high school, so I was never alone,” McClure said. “College is a lot different and more competitive — I’m around guys who are state champions.”
Throughout the years, he has learned to open his eyes and see what he was missing when he was “a little shy and conservative” and used to go home every weekend. Now, his teammates have become his second family.
“My teammates mean the world to me, I’ll still stay in touch with them, but I’ll miss the times in the locker room, the trips we took,” he said.
Wherever McClure chooses to go after graduating in May — among his options is the WWE — his teammates and coaches will serve as valuable friends and mentors.
“You serve as a guidance from 18 to 23 (years old),” Minkel said. “I look forward to watch and follow him in the future.”
