Published: 11:15 PM, Wed Oct 14, 2009
South View wrestler McCall picks Wisconsin
By Earl Vaughan Jr.
Scholastic sports editor
When Timmy McCall suffered severe injuries in a go-kart accident as a child, he promised everyone who would listen he was coming back, and not to worry about him.
McCall, a South View High School wrestler, took another impressive step on that trip back recently when he announced he's accepted an athletic and academic scholarship to wrestle for the University of Wisconsin.
McCall will be able to make his choice official in early November when he can sign a national letter-of-intent binding him to the Badgers.
Wisconsin competes in the Big Ten, home of some of the nation's best collegiate wrestling, and wrestling experts around North Carolina say it's rare for the Tar Heel state to land someone in that elite fraternity.
Fortunately for McCall, his high school coach, Cam Spence, had a way to help open the door and let McCall's talent do the rest.
Wisconsin's assistant wrestling coach, Jared Frayer, was Spence's high school teammate when the two were in Florida.
"I contacted Jared and began talking to him about Timmy,'' Spence said. "I told him I had a 189-pound state champion, two-time high school All-American with a 3.9 grade point average.''
From there, Spence let video of McCall's matches do the talking.
"They saw a high upside with Timmy,'' Spence said. "They know Timmy is going up there to be an NCAA champion. He's an unbelievable kid with great grades and a lot of desire.''
McCall had plenty other offers to consider before settling on Wisconsin. He was approached by such schools as North Carolina, UNC-Greensboro, Davidson, Old Dominion, Appalachian State and Bucknell.
But he found things at Wisconsin besides wrestling that interested him.
"They've got the 17th-ranked engineering school and their wrestling team was ninth in the nation (in the NCAA tournament) last year,'' McCall said. "They also had another thing to offer, Air Force ROTC, which I'm very interested in.''
McCall doesn't think being so far away from his home in North Carolina is going to be a problem.
"The biggest thing will probably be the weather,'' he said, looking ahead to the cold Wisconsin winter. "I'm really excited. I think I'll be able to deal with it.''
McCall plans to be a redshirt this fall, then start competing for a spot on the team in the fall of 2010.
For the immediate future, he's focusing on where he left off last season as North Carolina's 189-pound state champion in the 4-A classification.
He knows repeating as champion isn't going to be easy after going 44-1 as a junior.
For one thing, he's got plenty of competition without even having to leave Cumberland County. The only wrestler to beat him last year, and the wrestler he faced in the state finals, is back. That's Kevin Radford of Pine Forest.
Harrison Honeycutt of Lake Norman High School, 57-0 as the 3-A champion at 189 last year, has moved up to 4-A this fall to give McCall another tough challenger.
McCall's confidence on his chances at repeating is anything but shaken.
"I want to set an example, win the conference, the region and the state,'' he said. "I look forward to pinning my way through everything.
"That's my personal goal.''
Scholastic sports editor Earl Vaughan Jr. can be reached at vaughane@fayobserver.com or 486-3519.