Without a doubt, the focal point and leader of the Nittany Lion lineup, Kerry McCoy enters his senior season carrying the weight of lofty expectations. One of the most dominating wrestlers in the history of collegiate wrestling, he will begin the season having won 90 of his last 91 collegiate bouts and carrying a streak of 38 consecutive dual meet wins. He is in the top 10 in five major Penn State record categories, including career victories (8th, 109), dual meet victories (5th, 51), career falls (4th, 23), season victories (1st, 47) and season falls (4th, 11).One of the most popular and recognizable athletes on the Penn State campus, McCoy appears primed mentally and physically to reclaim the NCAA heavyweight title after taking World and Olympic champion, Kurt Angle to a 0-0 referee’s decision before losing in the finals of the U.S. Freestyle Open last season.

Redshirt season…took the year off to make a run at making the U.S. Olympic team…won the South Regional in Olympic Trials qualifying by downing Jason Loukides 11-8 in the final…nearly claimed the U.S. Open Freestyle title at 220 pounds after taking world and Olympic champion Kurt Angle to a 0-0 referee’s decision and losing in the final…at the Olympic trials McCoy, No. 4 ranked, opened with impressive6-0 and 7-0 wins over Dan Troupe and Kirk Trost before having his Olympic dreams thwarted with a 3-1 loss in the semifinals to No. 3 ranked Dan Chaid…wrestling unattached throughout the year McCoy also claimed titles at the East Stroudsburg and the Penn State Open tournaments.

NCAA Championships (3rd, 4-1)
McCoy entered the tourney with a 38-0 record as the heavy favorite to repeat as national champion…things went as planned in his first three matches as he pinned Dion Reed of Boston(4:57), forced a match termination against Fresno State’s Darin Preisendorf (19-4, 7:00) and earned a major decision in his quarterfinal match, his88th consecutive win (4th best all-time), against ninth-seeded Jeremy Layof Missouri (11-2)…Northern Iowa’s Justin Greenlee, the fifth seed, dethroned McCoy with a 4-3 decision in the semi-finals…wrestling back, Nick Hall(Old Dominion) defaulted (0:01) to McCoy, and then the Nittany Lion went home with third place after a 4-1 win over Wisconsin’s Jeff Walter, the11th seed.

Big Ten Championships (1st, 4-0)
Voted Outstanding Wrestler as he earned a fall, a match termination and two 6-1 wins en route to his second straight Big Ten heavyweight crown…in order, McCoy dispatched David Pierce (Purdue), Robert Chicoine (Northwestern), Walter and Billy Pierce (Minnesota)…

McCoy finished the season with a 43-1 record…scored 73 points for the Nittany Lions en-route to a perfect 17-0 dual-meet slate…he pinned nine opponents, scored four match terminations and earned 12 major decisions…earned 13 wins during the regular season against 1995 NCAA qualifiers, including two victories over national champion Tolly Thompson of Nebraska…captured top honors at the season opening East Stroudsburg by defeating North Carolina’s Justin Hardy, 6-5, in the title bout…a week later, won first place at the Mat Town Tournament at Lock Haven by defeating Thompson,4-1…won the heavyweight title at the Penn State Open, recording two falls and two major decisions…captured the Midlands Tournament with a 5-3 victory over Greenlee…went 6-0 at the National Duals, including falls over Thompson (4:20) and Michigan State’s Rob Train (2:36)…defeated Navy’s Dan Hicks at the NWCA All-Star Classic, 3-2.

NCAA Championships (1st, 5-0)
McCoy became the 13th Penn State wrestler to win an NCAA championship when he defeated Northern Iowa’s Justin Greenlee, 7-4, at the nationals held at the North Carolina campus…the top-seeded heavyweight, McCoy finished the season with a 47-0 ledger…McCoy became the Nittany Lion’s first NCAA heavyweight since Bill Oberly captured the crown in 1955.

Big Ten Championships (1st, 3-0)
McCoy captured the Big Ten title with a 3-1 overtime decision over third-ranked Billy Pierce of Minnesota…

Posted a 21-0 dual meet record as a sophomore…In four of Penn State’s initial five dual meets, his victories provided the winning margin for the Lions…selected Big Ten wrestler of the month for February…McCoy defeated seven of the top eight heavyweights in the final rankings…he also defeated Greenlee in the NWCA All-Star Classic.

NCAA Championships (1-2)
In his NCAA debut, McCoy won his first bout, and then ran into No. 1 seed Rex Holman of Ohio State…Holman logged a 13-3 victory on his way to the national title…wrestling back, McCoy lost a 7-1 decision to Jeff Kloiber of Pittsburgh.

Big Ten Championships (6th, 2-3)
As a sixth seed he drew considerable attention at the Big Ten Championships when he upset third third-seeded Keith Davidson of Wisconsin, 8-6, in overtime, during the quarterfinals…after losing to second-seeded Joel Sharratt of Iowa in the semi-finals, he went on to place sixth…

As a true freshman, McCoy won the starting job at 190 pounds and was the only Lion to compete in all 23 dual meets en route to a 13-10 dual-meet record and a 19-17 record overall…wrestling unattached, McCoy placed third at the East Stroudsburg Open…enjoyed a very successful Freestyle season…landed a spot on the U.S. Pan-American team by winning the 220 pound title at the University National Championships…McCoy defeated three opponents to secure the gold medal at the Pan-American Championships in Caracas, Venezuela, in June…he also captured consecutive Freestyle titles at the New York Athletic Club Tournament, University Nationals and Northeast Regional Tournament…at the Espoir National Tournament at San Jose, Cal., he won the Greco-Roman title at 220 and finished as the runner-up in Freestyle.

Background
McCoy completed an undefeated senior season at Longwood High School by winning his first New York state title at 177 pounds…a runner-up in the 1991 state tournament, his only loss his junior year was in the championship bout…during the summer of 1992, McCoy was one of 14 American wrestlers to compete in the Tour du Monde in Russia…he was the only U.S. wrestler to earn a gold medal at the competition, winning the 198 class title…followed that performance by taking gold medals in the heavyweight scholastic division in both Greco-Roman and Freestyle at the Empire State Games…burst onto the international scene when he placed second at the Cadet World championships in Hungary in the 16-and-under division…at Longwood High School, McCoy served as senior class president, played the cello in the orchestra and maintained a 3.9 grade-point average.