And he may never stop smiling again - nobody would blame him for that.
McCoy punctuated his fantastic junior season at Chestnut Ridge with the biggest prize of all on Saturday, a state championship. He claimed the 145-pound title with a solid 5-2 victory over Bishop McDevitt's John Pipa.
The win makes McCoy just the second state champion in Chestnut Ridge's wrestling history, and he joins a small fraternity of champions from Bedford County. In the 80 years of PIAA finals, here's your list of county champs:
John Heacock, Ron Hamilton, Jan Clark, Paul Clark, Gary Pfahler, Jonathan Gabriel, and now Justin McCoy.
"The feeling (of winning the championship) is unexplainable," McCoy said in a text message. "It can't be described."
McCoy scored all five points on Pipa in the second period, and was never in any trouble late to secure the gold medal. After having his hand raised - with that trademark smile of course - he shook hand with Pipa's coaches before leaping into his own coach Greg Lazor's arms for a long embrace.
"I knew Pipa had a good front headlock so I worked to stay out of that," he said. "I also worked a lot on keeping legs out and staying in the crab ride position, which Pipa is good at."
An outstanding talent on the youth level, McCoy also became his school's second three-time state placewinner, after Aaron Burkett accomplished it last year. He finished 43-3 this season and went past the 100-win career mark during the year, and he won his second Thomas Tournament title, his third District 5 crown, and his first Southwest Regional. His only losses were to both Class AAA finalists at the same weight, Jarod Verkleeren and Brock Port, and to AAA state qualifier Joey Blumer. Saturday was his second win over Pipa, now a three-time state runner-up.
While McCoy already had a sixth and seventh-place state medal to his credit, it was a change in mentality that allowed him to reach the top in 2017.
"I worked harder than ever this year," he said. "I felt like I held back a little last year in the practice room, but I didn't do that this year. Also, my focus was on scoring as many points as possible this year. Last year, I just tried to win matches.
"The offseason training (which included a national freestyle medal) has helped me a ton. I go to many camps and tournaments, learning so much with myself and from other people."
McCoy's championship came on the same day that Pfahler was laid to rest after passing away recently in Florida. When Pfahler was celebrated at the school after his title nine years ago, McCoy was one of the youngsters in the crowd and on the floor of the gym with the first Lion to win it all.
"It's pretty hard to describe winning this with Gary. After his passing, I really wanted to join him as a state champion and do it in his honor."
McCoy scored all five points on Pipa in the second period, and was never in any trouble late to secure the gold medal. After having his hand raised - with that trademark smile of course - he shook hand with Pipa's coaches before leaping into his own coach Greg Lazor's arms for a long embrace.
"I knew Pipa had a good front headlock so I worked to stay out of that," he said. "I also worked a lot on keeping legs out and staying in the crab ride position, which Pipa is good at."
An outstanding talent on the youth level, McCoy also became his school's second three-time state placewinner, after Aaron Burkett accomplished it last year. He finished 43-3 this season and went past the 100-win career mark during the year, and he won his second Thomas Tournament title, his third District 5 crown, and his first Southwest Regional. His only losses were to both Class AAA finalists at the same weight, Jarod Verkleeren and Brock Port, and to AAA state qualifier Joey Blumer. Saturday was his second win over Pipa, now a three-time state runner-up.
While McCoy already had a sixth and seventh-place state medal to his credit, it was a change in mentality that allowed him to reach the top in 2017.
"I worked harder than ever this year," he said. "I felt like I held back a little last year in the practice room, but I didn't do that this year. Also, my focus was on scoring as many points as possible this year. Last year, I just tried to win matches.
"The offseason training (which included a national freestyle medal) has helped me a ton. I go to many camps and tournaments, learning so much with myself and from other people."
McCoy's championship came on the same day that Pfahler was laid to rest after passing away recently in Florida. When Pfahler was celebrated at the school after his title nine years ago, McCoy was one of the youngsters in the crowd and on the floor of the gym with the first Lion to win it all.
"It's pretty hard to describe winning this with Gary. After his passing, I really wanted to join him as a state champion and do it in his honor."
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