After Kerry McCoy won his first collegiate national championship, the cover of Penn State University’s media guide featured the tuxedo-clad wrestler sitting in a chair at the center of a mat — holding a cello in his hands.
The point was made: This heavyweight was a virtuoso, on and off the mat.
McCoy, now 30 and a coach of Real Pro Wrestling’s Pennsylvania Hammer, began studying cello in third grade. He continued to play the instrument through his senior year at Longwood High School in Middle Island, N.Y. He also took private lessons as a class during his final year at Penn State.
“It was nice to have something to give me a break from the wrestling,” McCoy said.
But the wrestling world was lucky that in junior high school, he added this athletic endeavor to his musical interests. “Seventh grade was the first year we were allowed to be involved in a competitive sport,” explained the 6-foot-2-inch McCoy, “and there wasn’t a basketball team.”
In high school, he claimed two county championships (the only way to qualify for the New York state tournament). He finished second in the Empire State his junior year, coming back to take the title the following season.
Wrestling for Penn State, he qualified for the NCAAs as a freshman; won the championship with a 47-0 record as a sophomore; placed third as a junior (43-1); and reclaimed the title at 41-0 his senior year at 177 pounds. At one point, he posted a winning streak of 88 victories.
McCoy also had begun focusing on the international styles of wrestling and readily found success. A World Junior Champion, he won age-group national championships in University freestyle and Espoir Greco-Roman competition.
As a heavyweight, he earned five Senior national freestyle titles; tallied three Pan American Championships and one Outstanding Wrestler honor; twice placed fourth in the World Championships; and became the World silver medalist in 2003. In 2000 and 2004, he represented the United States on the Olympic freestyle team.
For the last seven wrestling seasons, McCoy has also turned his attention to training America’s future national and world medalists. In three years as an assistant at Penn State, he helped coach the Nittany Lions to a top-10 NCAA finish twice, gaining two national champions and 10 All-Americans along the way.
In the past four seasons as an assistant at Lehigh University, he’s helped bring about four conference championships, four top-10 NCAA finishes, two national champions and 14 All-Americans.
As a coach, McCoy said, he sees college wrestlers but also those aspiring to the Olympics. “Real Pro Wrestling is really the only alternative they have right now to pursue their sport and to help themselves out financially while staying involved in the sport,” he said.
“But we need more major media exposure,” he added. “That’s what’s going to make the difference. Then people can see what a great sport it is.”
Deciding to switch his own role from competitor to coach was easy, McCoy said.
“I’ve always been a big fan of the sport, as a spectator and an athlete. For me, it was a natural transition, trying to give back to a sport that’s given me so much,” he said. “It’s given me so many great relationships, so many great people to interact with, the opportunity to travel all over the world.”
Most importantly, McCoy said, the sport provides life lessons, lessons taught by “learning to be disciplined, learning to stick to a goal, getting up in the morning when you don’t want to train, missing out on vacations or being with family and friends.”
What’s the most valuable lesson?
“Definitely the discipline,” McCoy said. “That’s what it’s all about. In life, you’re going to have to make choices. A lot of people let opportunities pass them by because they don’t want to do things; they don’t want to commit themselves; they don’t want to work hard.”
Doing through what was necessary to learn those lessons was definitely worth the time and effort, McCoy said. “I wouldn’t change it for the world. I wouldn’t be where I am right now without wrestling. I’m sure I’d be successful, but I wouldn’t be doing what I am now, and I owe it all to wrestling.”
And this man of many talents said he sees a parallel between playing the cello and wrestling.
“They both (demand) dedication and commitment to a goal,” McCoy said. “What you get out of it is what you put in it.”
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