Justin McCoy couldn’t help but stare at the 174-pound bracket of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, which begin Thursday in Kansas City, Missouri.
The Chestnut Ridge alumnus wasn’t surprised to see his name there – the graduate student at Virginia has now qualified for the tournament five times – but he was stunned to see some of the other wrestlers on the top half of the bracket with him.
Virginia Tech’s Mekhi Lewis, a 2019 national champion, is the top seed. Michigan’s Shane Griffith, who won an NCAA title in 2021, is the No. 4 seed. And Penn State’s Carter Starocci, a three-time NCAA champ, is the No. 9 seed after defaulting twice in the Big Ten tournament.
Having three previous champions with a combined total of five titles between them makes it arguably the toughest bracket in the history of the event, which started in 1928.
“It’s pretty crazy, definitely,” McCoy said this week. “Even as a person in the bracket, it’s like, ‘Dang, that’s kind of wild, all on the same side!’ ”
Not that McCoy is intimidated. He wrestled Griffith and Missouri’s Keegan O’Toole, a two-time national champion at 165 pounds, this past season.
He’s faced Lewis twice this season, dropping a 2-0 decision in a dual meet and 8-1 in an ACC final that was tied until the final seconds.
“That one stung a little bit because I felt like I was right there,” McCoy said. “I wanted to end with an ACC championship. I felt like I wrestled really hard. I wrestled well and I can’t be disappointed with that. I’m disappointed with the outcome.
“I felt like it was a positive wrestling Mekhi,” said McCoy, who won an ACC title at 165 last season, but has not been able to step on the podium as an All-American. “Even though I lost, I felt like I was on. My movement was the best it’s been all season.”
McCoy is the No. 13 seed at 174 pounds after wrestling 165 the past two seasons and 157 in his first three years at Virginia. He’s 17-5 this season and has a 5-5 record against the wrestlers in his bracket, including an 11-6 victory over West Virginia’s Brody Conley, who he will face in the first round Thursday morning.
“I think it’s a good position,” McCoy said of his spot in the bracket. “The first guy is someone I’ve wrestled before and got a win over him. I know he’s going to want to come after me, but I feel excited about that.”
A victory there could put him up against Griffith, although that’s no guarantee. Like Starocci, Griffith was dealing with an injury at the Big Ten tournament and did not wrestle in the finals.
“I’m excited to wrestle any of them,” McCoy said. “I’m looking forward to having fun with it and not putting pressure on myself.”
His wrestling career will come to an end this weekend, but McCoy is trying not to think about that.
“That’s definitely a thought that I’ve had to try to throw out the window a couple of times,” he said.
“I’m trying not to focus on that. I’m trying to focus on having fun, being grateful for the opportunity to have fun with it and glorify God.”
McCoy won a state title as a junior at Chestnut Ridge in 2017, but was upset in the championship match his senior year.
A deeply religious person, he smiled through the tears then, and he always works to keep that mindset, no matter the outcome.
“It’s obviously hard at times,” he admitted. “It was one of the hardest things ever to put a smile on my face after my senior year. I keep the perspective that God has blessed me to do this. A lot of people can’t do this – not just wrestling in general but on the biggest stage.
“I try to have the perspective that no matter what happens, my family loves me, my coaches and teammates love me and God loves me.”
His parents, Greg and Diane McCoy, are expected to be in Kansas City supporting him along with two sisters and a brother-in-law. He’ll also have plenty of people in Chestnut Ridge School District cheering him on while watching ESPN’s coverage of the tournament.
“It’s awesome to see the support in my sixth year of school,” he said. “It’s a blessing to come from a small, close-knit community that supports me so well.”
