Gold wrestled from former champion

If there was such a thing as a Show-Me State Games legend, Steve McGee would be it.

At the age of 42, McGee was the oldest competitor in the 30-and-over division at the wrestling competition held at Hearnes Center Saturday.

Since he was 30 he has wrestled in every state games except one, and coming into Saturday he had won gold every time.

McGee is the wrestling coach at Truman High School in Independence. He has been the coach for the past six years, and was the assistant coach for six years before that.

McGee has made it a tradition for his team to come to Columbia each summer to wrestle in the games as a team-bonding experience.

“We were looking for things to do in the summer way back when and I heard about this and we came and enjoyed ourselves,” McGee said. “Now we just keep coming back.”

This is the only time McGee wrestles competitively during the year. He likes the competition.

It’s also the one chance each year the team can watch their coach wrestle.

“They like to come see me wrestle, I think,” McGee said. “They like to yell at me like I yell at them.”

McGee stays in shape with his team throughout the year, but his body is not the same as when he was 15 and first began wrestling at Truman.

“The first thing you lose is your flexibility,” McGee said. “I can’t do a lot of things I used to, but neither can my opponents, though. Sometimes you forget and try to do something you can’t anymore and you know it the next day. There is a fear of getting hurt now, and I never used to really think about that.”

McGee also says he has to be careful with what he does on the mat, since his team is watching him.

“You have a lot to lose,” McGee said. “The kids see you out there and you don’t want to do things you tell them not to do. It’s hard to practice what you preach out here. But I think my team and I have a good relationship and it makes it possible for me to keep coming out here and having fun with it.”

McGee brought five wrestlers this year, and many medaled in their divisions. All of McGee’s wrestlers agreed they loved coming out and seeing their coach compete.

“You see McGee in the wrestling room against guys like us and he’s kind of taking us lightly, but you still think he’s good, but then you see him come out here and he’s amazing,” Mike King said.

On Saturday, McGee lost his first match ever in the Show Me Games. He ended up with the silver medal.

McGee didn’t feel too bad about the loss, though. Because of a low number of entries McGee had to wrestle in the heavier weight class. In his final match, he gave up 40 pounds to his opponent, who needed overtime to beat McGee.

There was a lot of coincidence in McGee’s first loss in the games. The gold medalist, 40-year-old Jim King, is the father of two of McGee’s wrestlers at Truman. He and McGee attend church together and they even went to Truman together. Jim King has only been around wrestling a couple of years and Saturday’s matches were his first.

He didn’t have plans to wrestle on the trip to Columbia, but on the way his son, Matt King, talked him into it. He borrowed his other son’s wrestling shoes and decided he would have fun and compete for his sons.

He didn’t anticipate having to wrestle McGee.

“He is an awesome human being and a class act,” Jim King said. “I can’t say enough good things about him. I really didn’t want to wrestle him. I would have really preferred him to beat me, but we both agreed before the match we would give 100 percent and not hold back. This will probably be the last time you see me here, though. I about had a heart attack out there.”

McGee will be back to attempt to reclaim gold next year as long as he is healthy.

“My goal is to wrestle until I’m 50,” McGee said. “I love the sport and as long as I’m capable, I’ll do it.”

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