HERSHEY – As their time as teammates came to an end on Saturday, Chestnut Ridge’s Justin McCoy and Jared McGill shared an emotional embrace in the tunnel of the Giant Center.
It wasn’t the moment they – or many in the wrestling world – expected at the PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championships.
McCoy, a returning state champion, and McGill, who entered the tournament with a 42-0 record on the season, dreamed of winning a pair of gold medals.
Instead, McCoy settled for silver after a stunning 8-1 loss to Thayne Lawrence of Frazier – the same wrestler he beat 10-2 in the Southwest Regional finals two weeks earlier – and McGill claimed third place a day after a surprising loss in the semifinals.
A senior, McCoy will head to the University of Virginia in the fall while McGill, a junior, gets another crack at winning a state title.
So what did McGill tell McCoy in that private moment?
“He just told me that I’m the best wrestler he’s ever wrestled and competed against,” McCoy said. “It meant a lot. I’ve worked with him every day.
“We go at it. I’m thankful that he’s my teammate.”
Even as he fought back tears, McCoy flashed the same brilliant smile that he did after every victory.
“It was kind of hard because I worked all year for this, but I’m just smiling because I’m thankful for everything God has given me,” he said. “The opportunity to place here four times, to be in the state finals twice and to be able to win – I mean, I’m still a state champion – I’m thankful for that and thankful for everything God’s given me.”
Chestnut Ridge coach Greg Lazor also fought back tears as he talked about McCoy.
“He’s just one of a kind,” Lazor said.
“He’s a good kid. He knows the important things in life, and what’s going to make him the man that he’s going to be. Wrestling’s contributed to that, but he knows there is more to do yet.”
There’s more to do for McGill as well. An Army West Point recruit, he proved his mettle at the state tournament, even if it didn’t end with the medal he wanted.
McGill lost a close match Friday night, but rebounded with back-to-back victories, including a fall over returning state champion Creighton Edsell of Wyalusing – who he also beat on Friday – in the consolation final on Saturday.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the kid,” Lazor said. “I think I’m as proud as if he’d have won a state championship.”
McGill tried to take solace in his third-place finish, which was one better than last season.
“It definitely takes some of the sting out of (Friday’s loss),” he said. “I just showed some of the man inside of me, to come back and get third, because I was really hurting after the semifinal match.”
Chestnut Ridge finished sixth in the team standings with 47.5 points.
That was just ahead of Bishop McCort Catholic, which had 46.
Sharing more than a room: Robert Patrick plans to live with Chestnut Ridge’s McCoy next year at Virginia, and they’ll likely commiserate about Saturday’s finals.
Patrick, a Ligonier Valley senior, lost 6-4 to Edmond Ruth of Susquehanna Township at 170 pounds.
It marked the second time that Patrick lost to Ruth in the finals and the third time overall that he finished as a runner-up.
“I know for sure this isn’t going to drag us down,” Patrick said of the losses by the future Cavaliers. “We both know that feeling. I know it more than he does, losing three times.”
Patrick got off to a great start, with a first-period takedown, and he nearly had another at the end of the period. The score was tied at 3 in the second when Patrick was forced to take a blood timeout that he said had an impact on the match.
“I felt really well going into the second period,” Patrick said. “Blood time kind of shifted the momentum. He got to go talk to his coaches, and they told him not to tie up with me.”
Ruth scored another takedown in the second. Patrick’s third-period escape made it 6-4. A foot sweep with 6 seconds remaining knocked Ruth to his hip and sent a roar through the Giant Center crowd, but the defending state champion recovered before Patrick could score.
Patrick ends his career as the most decorated wrestling in school history, but that was little consolation to him on Saturday.
“My goal was to win a state title, and I didn’t do it,” he said. “But I’m going to the next level. That’s a higher step.
“If I achieve my goals there, than this won’t matter. But for right now, it’s disappointing for myself, my friends and family who came to support me.
“You get that feeling that you’ve let them down, but they know that I did everything I could my whole year – my whole high school career – to achieve my goal but never did.”
Jonesing for a title: Bishop McCort’s Josiah Jones, a two-time runner-up who was looking to finally get a state title, saw that dream end when he lost in the semifinals Friday night.
But the senior bounced back with consecutive victories – including a 5-3 win over Curwensville’s Steve McClure on Saturday – to finish third at 285 pounds.
“It’s always tough losing in the semis,” said Jones, an Oklahoma recruit. “My dream was to be a state champion. It’s always nice to go out with a win. My last time here, I just wanted to let it fly.”
Bishop McCort coach John Rizzo was impressed by how Jones handled the setback.
“That kid has overcome a lot of adversity in his life, not just in wrestling,” Rizzo said. “Super proud of how he came back and got third place. A lot of kids, after getting second place would say first or nothing and drop all the way to sixth place, but he fought back, and I’m super proud of him.”
Mixed emotions: Penn Cambria junior Derek Brown finished sixth at 170 pounds, which left him a bit disappointed after he was in the semifinals and had Ruth, the returning champion, close to a fall on Friday night.
“It was pretty heartbreaking knowing that I had him and could have pinned him, and he called that injury time,” Brown said.
Brown lost his next two matches, including 5-2 to Southmoreland’s Jaden Datz in the fifth-place match on Saturday, but said his performance will help as he returns for his senior season.
“It was a very good confidence booster,” he said. “I know what it’s like to be in the semifinals. I’d like to be our school’s first state champion for next year.”
Repeat performance: Westmont Hilltop’s Derrick Christie won his second state medal, but was unhappy that he finished in eighth place for the second consecutive year. The 120-pounder was beating Bentworth’s Manny Dovshek in the third period when the WPIAL wrestler reversed him, cradled and pinned him.
“Overall, it was a great tournament experience for me,” Christie said. “Even though it came to a rough end, I’m nowhere close to the end of my wrestling career. I plan on going to college, and I’m sure I will take lessons from this with me through my life.”
Christie, who attends Ferndale but wrestles for Westmont Hilltop, wasn’t ready to reveal his list of college possibilities, but said it likely would be a Division II school.
“I’m looking D-II,” he said. “I’m personally from a smaller school, so I’d like to go a D-II school with a smaller student body and a personal feel to it.”
Notes: Glendale’s Brock McMillen finished second at 113 pounds to become just the fourth Viking to medal and the first to reach the finals. The freshman went 41-4 on the season, with all of his losses coming to Mount Union’s Josh Boozel, including 7-3 on Saturday. … Everett junior Garret Cornell placed third at 126 pounds, the highest finish for a Warriors wrestler since Paul Clark won the school’s lone title in 1983. … Jefferson-Morgan’s Gavin Teasdale became just the 13th wrestler in PIAA history to win four titles, joining another former Rocket, Cary Kolat. Teasdale was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the AA tournament. … Former Chestnut Ridge wrestler Brandon Miller coached Norwin’s Kurtis Phipps to a second-place finish at 106 pounds in AAA.
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