Missouri State

Mike McCarty
Wrestling Coach, 1965-72, 1973-89
Inducted 2013

Mike McCarty was the longest tenured coach in the history of Missouri State wrestling, guiding the grapplers through 23 seasons. His best years at the Bears’ helm came between 1980 and 1984 when his teams were a combined 42-28-4 in dual meet competition over four seasons. The Bears were third in the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship in 1978 and 1979, finished second in 1980 and won the school’s only wrest-ling league title in 1981 in the last MSU season in the MIAA. Wrestling joined the rest of MSU athletics in the NCAA Division I move in 1982, and wrestling did not have a league affiliation thereafter. McCarty was MIAA Coach of the Year in both 1980 and 1981. He guided Missouri State to 150 dual meet victories and wrestlers who competed for him own school records for career and season match wins, team points, winning percentage, takedowns and pins. McCarty's tenure produced NCAA Division II All-Americans in John Smith in 1968, Randy Waggoner in 1979, Scott Lowery in 1980 and Jim Kattelman and John Howard in 1982; and the first Division I qualifiers in Norm Dahm in 1984, Jon Frangoulis in 1987 and 1988, Joe Williams in 1988 and Jeff Harris in 1989. McCarty's promotion of MSU wrestling included his establishment of college and high school invitational meets, coaching clinics, a summer program and a booster club. MSU hosted the NCAA Division I West Regional in 1986. McCarty earned his doctorate in 1974 from the University of Missouri after receiving his bachelor's and master's degrees from Southern Illinois. A U.S. Army veteran, McCarty also spent time as an MSU assistant coach in football and gymnastics and was also a long-time instructor in the Physical Education department before his retirement. Coach McCarty died in 2011.