Earl Gray McCready (June 5 or 15, 1905 – December 9, 1983) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

amateur and

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

. McCready competed in the U.S. for Oklahoma State University in folkstyle, and as a

freestyle wrestler Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestling i ...

who competed for Canada in the 1928 Summer Olympics. In 1930, he won a gold medal in the heavyweight class at the British Empire Games. He soon turned pro shortly after and became a three-time NWA British Empire Heavyweight Champion. McCready was nicknamed 'The Moose' during his wrestling career.

Early life

McCready was born on the 5th or 15 June 1905 in

Lansdowne, Ontario Leeds and the Thousand Islands is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario, located within the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville. The township is located along the Saint Lawrence River, and extends north into rural hamlets and village ...

. He grew up on a farm in open rural area of Saskatchewan in the north regions with Regina as its capital city, Western

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. During his wrestling career his billed height was . McCready died of a heart attack on the 9th of December 1983 in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, United States at the age of 78.

Career

Amateur wrestling

McCready attracted the attention of Oklahoma State wrestling coaches when he defeated their heavyweight at a 1926 tournament in Canada. McCready came to the Stillwater, Oklahoma college, 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 champion at any weight. He was also the first foreign-born NCAA wrestling champ. 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, 177-pound champ, 1955–1957). McCready still owns the record fastest fall in an NCAA final, pinning Ralph Freese of the University of Kansas in just nineteen seconds at the very first NCAA wrestling championship 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,

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 Stewart Edward Hart (May 3, 1915 – October 16, 2003) was a Canadian amateur and professional wrestler, wrestling booker, promoter, coach, trainer, football player and sailor. He is best known for founding and handling Stampede Wrestling, a ...

Stampede Wrestling Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta. For nearly 50 years, it was one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies. Originally established by Stu Hart in 1948, the pro ...

during the 50s.

Retirement

In the early 1950s McCready became a star of

's fledgling

promotion. In 1958 McCready fought his last wrestling match at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario,

. He retired from wrestling after a 28-year career in the sport.

Championships and accomplishments

* Canadian Wrestling Hall of Fame **Class of 2000 * Dominion Wrestling Union ** NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship (New Zealand version) (2 times) *

George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame The George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling hall of fame museum located within the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum's Dan Gable Museum. The hall of fame honors wrestlers with a strong amat ...

**Class of 2005 * National Wrestling Alliance **

NWA British Empire Heavyweight Championship (Toronto version) The Toronto version of the NWA British Empire Heavyweight Championship was a major singles title in that city's NWA affiliate, Maple Leaf Wrestling, from 1941 until 1967, when the title was abandoned. Title history See also *List of Nationa ...

(3 times, first) **NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship (San Francisco version) (1 time) *

Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (PWHF) and Museum is an American professional wrestling hall of fame and museum located in Wichita Falls, Texas currently closed to water leaks. The museum was founded by Tony Vellano in 1999, and was previo ...

**Class of 2016, "Pioneer" category *

** Alberta Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with

Ski Hi Lee A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partial ...

Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta. For nearly 50 years, it was one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies. Originally established by Stu Hart in 1948, the pro ...

(Class of 1995) *''

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four W ...

'' **

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame The Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON) Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling and mixed martial arts hall of fame that recognizes people who make significant contributions to their professions. It was founded in 1996 by Dave Meltzer, editor of t ...

( Class of 1996) *Other titles: **Canadian Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCready, Earl 1905 births 1983 deaths Olympic wrestlers of Canada Wrestlers at the 1928 Summer Olympics Canadian male sport wrestlers Wrestlers at the 1930 British Empire Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Canada Wrestling people from Ontario Canadian male professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Ontario Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum People from Leeds and Grenville United Counties Commonwealth Games medallists in wrestling Gridiron football people from Ontario Canadian players of American football Oklahoma State Cowboys football players Oklahoma State Cowboys wrestlers Stampede Wrestling alumni NWA British Empire Heavyweight Champions (Toronto version) NWA Canadian Heavyweight Champions (Calgary version)