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August 26, 2004 3:54 pm

Cello-playing wrestler pins technical foes

By GARY MIHOCES

USA TODAY

ATHENS, Greece - Kerry McCoy, chiseled with muscle at 6-feet-2, 250 pounds, doesn't fit the stereotype of ``kind of a techno geek.'' But that is what the U.S. freestyle heavyweight wrestler calls himself.

``Most of the guys on the team and stuff, if there is a computer problem or something is wrong with some kind of electronic equipment, I'm the guy most of them look to,'' says the two-time Olympian from Long Island, N.Y.

Greg Strobel, wrestling coach at Lehigh University, says the same applies back in Bethlehem, Pa., where McCoy is one of his assistants.

``He's great with the technical stuff, the computers, the videos,'' says Strobel, helping coach McCoy here. ``He's better than our IT (information technology) people at Lehigh. He solves our problems.''

In Athens, McCoy is intent on hitting all the right keys, pushing all the right buttons and connecting all the right wires to eliminate a glitch in his own wrestling career. He's a four-time U.S. champ, he won a world silver medal last year, but his ultimate goal has eluded him.

``The only reason I believe I'm back here is another opportunity to win a gold medal. If I didn't think I had the chance to be an Olympic champion, I wouldn't even have made it this far. That's what it's all about,'' says the two-time NCAA champ from Penn State, who starts pool competition Friday against Malid Mutalimov of Kazakhstan.

McCoy was on a roll going into the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. To make the U.S. team, he beat defending world champion Stephen Neal. In the Pan Am Games, he beat former world champ Alexis Rodriguez of Cuba.

But after dominating his first two foes in Sydney, he was upset by Artur Taymazov of Uzbekistan. The United States protested the scoring. After a video review, McCoy was awarded two more points, which would have given him the victory. But the same review resulted in three more points for Taymazov. He won the match and went on to a silver medal. McCoy got fifth.

McCoy went into the 2000 Olympics figuring that would be the end of his career.

``I really like to have things organized and do a decent job of planning,'' he said. ``My plan back when I was in high school was to graduate, go to college, win a couple of NCAA titles, make the Olympic team, be an Olympic champion, go to grad school, get my MBA, go from there and work in the business world,'' he said.

That went awry, but McCoy has a tatoo on his back of the Phoenix, the mythical bird, rising from the ashes.

``Everything after 2000 was kind of a new beginning for me, and there's where the Phoenix comes in,'' he says.

He decided to compete in the 2001 world championships because they were set for New York, his home area. The Sept. 11 attacks changed everything. The world tournament was delayed and moved to Bulgaria, where McCoy placed fourth.

The United States did not wrestle in the 2002 world championships in Iran because of threats against the U.S. team. But with the 2003 worlds reset for New York, McCoy was back again for a runner-up finish he hopes to improve on in Athens.

Srobel said McCoy was ``on track and capable of winning the gold'' in Sydney, and that he's gotten better: ``I think he's added a lot, especially on the mat. He's always been good on his feet. But I think the thing that has helped him the most is his par terre (French for down on the mat) wrestling offense and defense.''

It helps McCoy that the maximum poundage for heavyweights has been lowered from 286 pounds to 264.5 pounds since Sydney. He says most of the world's top heavies are in the 260-270 range, but he no longer has to worry about facing a guy who weighed in at 286 and was over 300 by the time he met him. ``It's definitely a little bit of a benefit,'' he says.

Not that McCoy isn't strong enough to heft large objects. At Longwood High School in Middle Island, N.Y., he was a cello player in the orchestra, as well as a state champ and president of the senior class.

The demands of wrestling and academics at Penn State prompted him to give up the cello in college. But he's still asked often about his musical background.

``After making the Olympic team, one of the biggest questions I get is, `Do you still play the cello?''' he says. ``I don't know how many people have come up to me who couldn't tell me what titles I've won but they say their daughter plays the cello and she heard I play, or their son was going to quit and he heard I played and stuck it out.''

McCoy has stuck it out for another Olympic shot. He says he hasn't had time between his wrestling and coaching to get that MBA. He's now thinking about exploring head coaching opportunities in college and eventually athletic administration.

He turned 30 on Aug. 2. This will likely be his farewell to the mat.

``The only certainties in life are death and taxes,'' he says. ``But as far as I'm able to predict, this will be my last competition.''

He'd love to go home and watch a CD-ROM or video of him winning gold in Athens and running up into the stands to hug his mom, Gretchen Cisco, as he always does after big victories.

One thing is assured. Whatever the format he chose for the replay, it will be hooked up just right.

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