Kerry McCoy (wrestler)

For the musician, see Kerry McCoy (musician).

Kerry McCoy

Personal information
Born	August 2, 1974 (1974-08-02) (age 50) Riverhead, New York, U.S.
Medal record Men's freestyle wrestling Representing United States World Championships 2003 New York 120 kg Pan American Games 2003 Santa Domingo 120 kg

Kerry R. McCoy (born August 2, 1974 in Riverhead, New York) is an American amateur wrestler. He is a two-time Olympian, a four-time World Cup Championship and three NCAA All-American. He is currently the head coach of the University of Maryland wrestling program.

Life and career

In his inaugural season as the Terrapin head coach, McCoy led the team to a school record-tying 10th place NCAA Tournament finish, earning three All-Americans in Steve Bell (133, 6th), Alex Krom (141, 5th) and Hudson Taylor (197, 3rd). McCoy also led the team to an ACC Tournament championship, crowning ACC Champions Brenden Byrne (125), Steve Bell (133), and Alex Krom (141). In the 2009–2010 season, McCoy led the team to a school record 19 duel meet victories, school record breaking career wins and career and season pins for Hudson Taylor (197 lb), McCoy's first regular season conference championship, a runner- up finish at ACC conference championship and a 20th-place finish at the NCAA Championship. Subsequent athletes McCoy has coached to All-American status include three-time All American Josh Asper (165), Spencer Myers (285) and University World Bronze Medalist Mike Letts (174).

As head coach of Stanford from 2005 to 2008, McCoy made a strong start with the program, leading the team to a winning record in his first season as a head coach. Under McCoy's guidance, the team finished 2005-06 with an 8-7 record in dual meets and bettered itself by two spots at the Pac-10 Championships. In addition, he helped two wrestlers qualify for the NCAA championships and coached sophomore Tanner Gardner to become the 13th All-American in Stanford history.

During McCoy's second year at the helm of the program, the improvement continued. The Cardinals finished with an 8-8 dual meet record, and climbed another rung higher, to sixth place, on the Pac-10 ladder. With the help of McCoy, five wrestlers placed in the Pac-10 and Gardner captured the program's first individual Pac-10 title since 2004. All five qualified for the NCAA Championships, one of the highest totals of NCAA qualifiers in Cardinal history. Gardner and Josh Zupancic earned All-America honors, the first Stanford pair to do so in the same season since 1967, while freshman Zack Giesen was named the Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year.

Before his time at Stanford, McCoy was an assistant coach with the Lehigh wrestling program in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; in his five seasons there, he coached 14 NCAA All-Americans, including two NCAA Champions, and the program won the EIWA Conference championship four times. McCoy also helped guide 197-pounder Jon Trenge to a Lehigh-record 133 victories in his career and a trio of top-three finishes at the NCAA Championships.

During his time at Lehigh, McCoy also worked for the Lehigh Valley Athletic Club as a director, . In addition, McCoy has served on Athlete Advisory committees for USA Wrestling and the U.S. Olympic Committee, and has spent multiple seasons on the U.S. Freestyle World Team coaching staff.

Prior to his arrival at Lehigh, McCoy served as an assistant at Penn State for three seasons, during which the Nittany Lions posted two fourth-place finishes at the NCAA Tournament and produced 10 All-Americans and two NCAA Champions.

McCoy has had tremendous success as an athlete, beginning with his high school career at Longwood in Middle Island, New York. McCoy was named the 2005 Friends of Long Island Wrestling Man of the Year and was inducted into the Longwood High School Hall of Fame in 1998. McCoy went on to compete at Penn State, where he accumulated an impressive 150-18 overall record and won NCAA heavyweight championships in 1994 and 1997. McCoy also won three Big Ten titles and won 131 of his last 132 matches at Penn State, including an 88-match winning streak. A three-time All-American, McCoy was named the Penn State Athlete of the Year and the Nittany Lions' Wrestler of the Year in 1994 and 1997. During his senior year, he was selected as the 1997 Dan Hodge winner and was chosen as W.I.N. Magazine's Wrestler of the Year. In 1997, McCoy graduated with a bachelor's degree in marketing from Penn State.

A two-time Olympian, McCoy took fifth place at the 2000 Olympic Games and seventh at the 2004 Games in Athens. In 2000, McCoy qualified for the Olympics at 286 pounds by defeating 1999 World Champion Stephen Neal, by scores of 4-1 and 6-4. In 2004, McCoy won his fifth straight U.S. National Freestyle Wrestling Championship, taking five straight matches and defeating 2003 NCAA champion Steve Mocco in the final, 3-0. His victory put him in the finals of the Olympic Trials, where he bested Tolly Thompson 5-3 and 8-0 to earn the right to represent the United States again at the 2004 Summer Games.

McCoy has been a consistent force on the national scene for the past decade, as he has collected numerous top finishes at the United States National Tournament with a fourth-place finish in 1994; third in 1995; second in 1996 and 1997; fifth in 1998; third in 1999; and first from 2000-04. He is a nine-time member of the National Team. In 1998 and 2001, he placed fourth at the World Championships, and won a silver medal in 2003. Then, in August 2003, McCoy won a gold medal at the Pan-American Games and was honored as the Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.

McCoy and his wife, Abbie, were married in June in State College, PA. The couple resides in College Park, MD.

See also

• List of Pennsylvania State University Olympians

References

• Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Kerry McCoy". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2016-12-04.