My nephew. I still can not believe what he did in high school.
Below is an article I saved. He went on to play football at U of Minnesota for Glenn Mason - Currently playing football in Sweeden. My brother Dave is the HS wrestling coach and needed a heavy weight during Pat's Junior and Senior year.
Senior Year
Football - Captain middle linebacker and quarter back
Basketball - Captain - Power Forward
Wrestling - Captain - Heavy Weight
Baseball - Captain - Catcher - great hitter
Neenah’s McCarthy balancing two sports
By Dan VanderPas
Post-Crescent assistant sports editor
Pat McCarthy yearns to tuck his head under the pillow, snub the world and doze off for a couple of more hours.
It’s 5:30 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 1, and the Neenah senior is exhausted.
Memories of the 68-66, four-overtime basketball loss at Appleton West the night before boggle his mind.
McCarthy, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound forward, and his teammates had given the Terrors and Division I prospect Brian Butch (played for U of Wisconsin Madison in College), a 6-11 center, everything they could handle.
But this Saturday is a new day and a new challenge for the remarkable Neenah athlete.
He knows he has to hop out of bed so he can help his team, including his father, Neenah wrestling coach Dave McCarthy, sophomore brother, Tim, and close friend Tate Wheeler do well in the Ripon Multidual.
It certainly isn’t easy for Pat to greet the day.
“That was one of the few mornings I had to help pull Pat out of bed,” said Dave McCarthy, who is in his 13th season as Neenah’s wrestling coach.
Pat remembered getting on the bus and then sleeping his way to Ripon. When he got there, he found that his early draw in the 275-pound class was 6-4, 290-pound University of Wisconsin football recruit Randy Gyllin of Mauston, who finished second at state in Division 2 last year.
Pat didn’t back down, though. Whether it’s football, wrestling, basketball, baseball or the classroom, where he has a 3.94 grade-point average, Pat has always been ready for a challenge.
“We knew we had to rest Pat when we could at Ripon,” coach McCarthy recalled. “We didn’t know how much we could get out of him. We got there and found that Pat had drawn this kid (Gyllin) who finished second at state. Pat was giving up 65 to 70 pounds to him.”
When he learned of the matchup, Pat didn’t flinch. “Pat told me that a match like this was something he got up for,” coach McCarthy said.
Pat decisioned Gyllin and tied for first in Ripon at 275. Appleton West’s Chris Guay finished at 5-0 in the meet, McCarthy ended up 3-0. Gyllin placed third.
