Son follows fabled father’s footsteps

DES MOINES - Cael Garvey has heard all the stories, seen all the medals, felt all the pressure of following in his father's footsteps.

Those footsteps led him to a certain place and that place was the state wrestling tournament.

The Mid-Prairie High School junior's first trip to state Feb. 18-20 was all the more meaningful because he had his father, Justin Garvey, who is the Mid-Prairie wrestling head coach, in his corner.

Cael Garvey now has his own stories, his own medal and maybe a little pressure yet. He placed eighth at 195 pounds in Class 2A, not quite where Dad placed 23 years earlier.

Justin Garvey was the Class 1A 189-pound state champion for New London in 1998.

'He's done a really good job of handling the pressure of knowing his Dad was a state champion and had a lot of success in high school,” Justin Garvey said. 'He dealt with it all and found his own style.”

Now both father and son will share forever a state tournament achievement.

'It's a great feeling, especially since the year before I got beat out in a wrestleback match at districts,” Cael Garvey said. 'That has driven me a lot this year. I didn't want to have that feeling again. I wanted to feel the joy of winning and going to state with my teammates and my Dad.”

'It's a pretty awesome feeling. It's something me and him have been working on for a long time,” said Justin Garvey, who is in his 13th season as head coach of the Golden Hawks. 'People at the district meets, but they don't know everything he has been through to get here. He had a pretty tough junior high career. It's a testament to him for all the hard work he has put in to get here.”

Justin Garvey won his state championship at Veterans Memorial Auditorium, across the street from Wells Fargo Arena. He has spent the better part of the last 12 years taking his son to tournaments on weekends, doing whatever Cael wanted to help him get better.

For a time, Cael Garvey's main interest in sports drifted away from wrestling to gymnastics.

'I think I did it for about three years,” Cael Garvey said. 'I really did enjoy gymnastics.”

He was a regular at the Gym Nest in Iowa City and actually had plenty of success in that sport, which has helped his ability on the wrestling mat.

'Everything I did was cool,” he said. 'It was cool learning new things. I think it really helps a lot, being explosive, being strong. All those aspects are good for wrestling.”

'I remember him and (Notre Dame-West Burlington/Danville junior) River Belger were on the same gymnastics team together,” Justin Garvey said. 'Those were some fun times.”

Paying his dues to get to where he is now has not come easy for Cael Garvey. When he was younger, more often than not he would walk off the mat as his opponent's hand was raised in victory.

'There have been a lot of heartaches along the way,” Justin Garvey said. 'For him it is all about being mentally ready to wrestle. He freezes up mentally sometimes and he has had to work through that.”

'I was really nervous before districts,” Cael Garvey said. 'I didn't want to lose and not go to state. My Dad told me to just go out and do my thing and work hard. That's what I did.”

Knowing he had to let his son earn those dues wasn't easy for Justin Garvey. He has had to walk a fine line between being a father and a coach.

'We make it a point not to take the wrestling home with us,” Dad said. 'For a while I struggled to separate the two and I had to make a decision whether or not I wanted to coach him or not. We worked hard at it.”

He and his son have established boundaries which have helped them cash in on things.

'It was hard because I am so heavily invested personally, but I have to detach from the Dad part of it when I am coaching,” Justin Garvey said. 'People might expect me to be warmer with him, but when we are at practice or at a meet, he is just another one of my wrestlers.”

All the hard work, the sacrifices, the long hours in the car going to tournaments every weekend all paid off in Des Moines for the Garveys. It was a special weekend father and son can always remember the footsteps that were walked.

'It's been a lot of fun,” Cael Garvey said. 'It's been cool sharing this with my Dad.”

'It sent chills down my back a little bit hearing the Garvey name on the P.A. and seeing another Garvey in Des Moines,” Justin Garvey said. 'It's something we will never forget.”