MINNEAPOLIS — It's the picture - and the moment - that captured hearts across America back in March of 2014.
A photo was taken of Steve McKee as he embraced his son Mitch after the biggest match of his life - one that made him a state champion for St. Michael Albertville High.
"I just remember hugging him and being so wrapped up in the emotion," Mitch says. "Him being able to witness that and just thinking this could be the last time he sees me doing something this big in the sport. He had been there to support me and push me from four years old until that moment."
KARE 11 Sunrise Anchor Jason Hackett caught up with Mitch - now 26 years old - to talk about his battle for a title and his family's other fight away from the mat.
"It (the championship) was really special, because I knew that he didn't have a ton of time left."
At the time, 51-year-old Steve had a rare form of cancer with tumors pressing on his spine, heart and lungs... lesions that eventually spread to his bones.
"He actually lost the use of his legs," Mitch recalls. "So he had to be lifted into bed and into a wheelchair and all that"
The disease took Steve's life later that year.
"It was a lot of emotions a lot, you know? Sometimes anger, sometimes... just wishing he was there."
Even though his pain was over, Mitch says the last thing his dad would have wanted is for his boys to stop fighting.
"It was either sit around and mope or, you know, go to practice and go do something that he supported us and brought us up to love," Mitch says.
A KARE 11 crew was at practice in the St. Michael H.S. wrestling room the day after Steve died. And sure enough, so were Mitch and his younger brother Patrick - just like dad would have wanted.
"Wrestling was kind of a thing that we did as a family," Patrick said during an interview on that day back in 2014. "It was our pastime, our hobby."
A decade later, not much has changed. Now 24 years old, Patrick wrestles for the U of M just like his brother Mitch did. "Wrestling is my whole life right now, besides my family and God," he says.
Steve never got to watch Patrick wrestle any of his varsity matches, but Patrick says he never felt alone. "I feel him with me every single match I'm stepping in there."
Now a Gopher senior, Patrick is coming off a runner-up finish at the Big Ten championships and wrestling in the NCAAs to close out a highly decorated college career. "Big 10 finals. Two time All American. It's the dreams that my dad wanted for me and for my brother."
Mitch relocated to Florida and made the jump from wrestling to mixed martial arts. He's gearing up for his next fight in April. "Coming up on three years this summer and hoping to get to the UFC," Mitch says.
Patrick is planning on joining his brother once things wind up at the U of M. Two brothers bonded by love, loss, and one singular idea: Through the ups and downs, bumps and bruises.... just keep fighting.
"It's pretty cool because we're still living out that dream." Patrick reflects.
"I wish he could see me what me and Pat have accomplished," Mitch says. "But I know he's watching down on us and he's definitely proud of what we've done."
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