Amateur wrestling McCready attracted the attention of
Oklahoma State wrestling coaches when he defeated their heavyweight at a 1926 tournament in Canada. McCready would then come to Stillwater, Oklahoma, where he played
football and
wrestled. In three years of wrestling varsity, the 5'11", 238-pound McCready was 25–0, with all but three of his victories by pin. In 1928, McCready finished sixth in the Olympic Freestyle Heavyweight Tournament. As an Oklahoma State Cowboy, McCready won three NCAA heavyweight titles (1928–1930), becoming the first three-time NCAA wrestling champion. He was also the first foreign-born NCAA wrestling champion. He is one of only two collegiate wrestlers with three NCAA titles to win all three of his finals matches by pin (the other being
Dan Hodge of the
University of Oklahoma, 1955–1957). McCready still owns the record of fastest fall in an NCAA final, pinning Ralph Freese of the
University of Kansas in just nineteen seconds at the very first
NCAA wrestling championships in 1928. At the
1930 Empire Games, he won the gold medal in the heavyweight class.
Professional wrestling Following McCready's graduation from Oklahoma A&M with a degree in physical education, he became a
pro wrestler in late 1930, pursuing a professional wrestling career. McCready finished sixth in the Olympic Freestyle Heavyweight Tournament and he won a gold medal in Freestyle as a heavyweight at the first British Empire Games in Hamilton, Ontario,
Canada in 1933, also in the same year as well, roughly two years after the start of his career, McCready had defeated the ten year reigning British Empire champion Jack Taylor. McCready worked for
Stu Hart's
Stampede Wrestling during the 50s.
Retirement In the early 1950s McCready became a star of
Stu Hart's fledgling
Stampede Wrestling promotion. In 1958 McCready fought his last wrestling match at
Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario,
Canada. He retired from wrestling after a 28-year career in the sport. ==Championships and accomplishments==