Dan McCool

Dan McCool embarked on a journalism career in 1978, spending considerable time covering the sport of wrestling. Through his coverage, McCool saw generations of individuals rise to the top, in part because many of them learned an appreciation for hard work on the family farm. It was hands-on stuff such as baling hay, shoveling and milking cows, and the occasional break gave them an opportunity to climb a rope. The calluses made tough skin, and the chores before dawn made backs unbreakable....See more

Dan McCool embarked on a journalism career in 1978, spending considerable time covering the sport of wrestling. Through his coverage, McCool saw generations of individuals rise to the top, in part because many of them learned an appreciation for hard work on the family farm. It was hands-on stuff such as baling hay, shoveling and milking cows, and the occasional break gave them an opportunity to climb a rope. The calluses made tough skin, and the chores before dawn made backs unbreakable. McCool covered the sport from its youth level to the 1996 Olympics, working for newspapers in Iowa and North Dakota. His work earned him the Bob Dellinger Award in 1995 from Amateur Wrestling News and Wrestling Journalist of the Year in 1997 from W.I.N. magazine as the nation's top wrestling writer. McCool and his wife, Diane, who edits his work, live in Iowa with their dog, Frosty. See less