McCoy's career something to cherish

   Simply put, Justin McCoy's high school wrestling career is well...maybe that not simply put.
   Yes, the final result in today's state championship bouts didn't produce the perfect ending, but that should do nothing to dampen what the Chestnut Ridge star accomplished in four short years.
   Here's a brief glimpse at the numbers:
   * Career Record of 167-18
   * Four-time District 5 champion
   * Two-time Southwest Regional champion
   * 2017 state champion (145 pounds)
   Furthermore, McCoy's the first wrestler from Chestnut Ridge to win four state medals, and only the third from Bedford County schools to do so. Northern Bedford's Jan Clark, who won three titles in the late 1970's, and Bedford's Ryan Easter (2011-14) are the only others.
   All of that puts McCoy in very exclusive company. Along the way of this 45-2 senior season, he smashed through both his school and District 5 win records. Aaron Burkett held Ridge's previous mark at 152, while North Star's Chris Lascari had 154 victories and had been the D5 leader for a number of years.
   The four-time district champions is a who's who list of local wrestlers, while there's only been six other state champions from the county. (Northern Bedford's aforementioned Clark, Bedford's John Heacock, Ron Hamilton, and Jonathan Gabriel, Chestnut Ridge's Gary Pfahler, and Everett's Paul Clark)
   McCoy also bookended his scholastic career by helping the Lions to two of their three state team medals, second place in the Class AA Duals in 2015 and third place a month ago.
   "My career at Chestnut Ridge is one I will never forget," he said earlier tonight. "Not only the success that I've had has made it great, but being with my teammates and the success we've had had made it even better. I'm so thankful for all the people who have helped me in my career, and thankful that God gave me these opportunities."
   Personally, my opinion was that McCoy's career took a turning point two years ago at the state tournament, when he lost in the quarterfinals against Cole Wetzel of Boiling Springs and went on to place seventh at 138 pounds. That's not to say at all that his first two seasons in a varsity uniform were bad in any way. You can't say that about someone who was already a two-time state medalist and well on his way to becoming one of the area's all-time greats.
   I just think it made him work that much harder to achieve his ultimate dream, that state championship. And I think he knew what he needed to work on.
   Even though I departed the Bedford Gazette in the first week of the wrestling season last year, so I didn't get to cover him as much in person, the moments I got to watch McCoy and the chats I had with him told me there was going to be different results over the final two seasons.
   Obviously, those results were different. Always a very technically sound wrestler, I saw a much more aggressive McCoy than ever. He was determined to dominate opponents from the neutral position, and go harder after bonus points when he was on top.
   Come Hershey last year, the bottom line was that McCoy was not only able to win, he was ready to win. He was down early to Bishop McDevitt's John Pipa in the 145-pound final, but scored five points in the second period of his 5-2 victory for the championship. That aggressiveness showed in putting Pipa on his back for the winning points.
   This year, more of the same. And he added a tournament title early in the season at the King of the Mountain. McCoy was strong throughout the winter, and he walked into the Giant Center on Thursday with a 42-1 record. And in his first three bouts in his final high school event, McCoy posted a pair of 11-1 major decisions and a win by injury default. That set up a regional final rematch with Frazier sophomore Thayne Lawrence, with the gold medal on the line.
   McCoy won that regional final two weeks ago by a 10-1 count. This one was far different, though. Let's give Lawrence, an 8-1 winner, all the credit for that. We've seen plenty of regional rematches in state finals before, but not very often one where a lopsided score one way turns completely around.
   "What was different this time was I just didn't start the match well," said McCoy. "If I get a takedown in the first period, I can get on a roll. I wasn't able to do that and I was fighting back the whole match."
   While I laud Lawrence for what he did this afternoon, I give a big thumbs up to McCoy as well - for his entire career. The University of Virginia is getting a really great wrestler, but it's also getting a really great person.
   "In college, I want to be the best I can be, be a multiple-time NCAA All-American and a champion," he said. "I'm looking forward to trying to reach my goals and make many more memories with my new teammates."
   I started hearing about Justin McCoy years before he was at the high school level. And in the blink of an eye, he's moving on to his next challenge.
   A blink of an eye, but wow, what a blink it was.