By Perry Green
AFRO Sports Writer
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Mervo senior Lance McCoy takes down Montgomery County’s Tyler Luckett to become
Baltimore City’s third state wrestling champion. (Courtesy Photo/ digitalsports.com)
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(April 2, 2009) - Most locals are familiar with Michael Phelps, Sean Mosley, or even Tavon Austin, a few Baltimore City natives who have completely dominated the high school athletics scene during more recent years.
Well the AFRO has become aware of a new name that will undoubtedly be added to that short list of elite champions.
Mervo senior Lance McCoy recently became only the third state wrestling champion to come from Baltimore City.
The three-time city champ had to come from behind to win the state title match against Montgomery County’s Tyler Luckett after being put on his back late in the third period.
But with less than 20 seconds remaining in the match, McCoy took down Luckett with an ankle-pick for the victory.
“That was nothing,” McCoy told the media following the championship. “I made a mistake, I came back, and I won all of my matches. I bounced back from that. Wrestling hard, wrestling hard and believing in God.”
McCoy has a knack for bouncing back from adversity.
Throughout his life, he has been faced with some unfortunate situations.
Growing up in poverty during most of his grade school years, McCoy was suspended more than 15 times, and was once expelled for bringing a weapon to school.
But with the help of his wrestling coach Chris Jones, McCoy eventually grabbed hold of his own destiny, settling for nothing less than to be successful in life.
“Chris is my biggest supporter and is like a second father to me,” said McCoy. “He understands how much it takes to become the best, despite being disadvantaged.”
The 17-year-old senior now ranks among the top two students of his class of 245 seniors, and is one of the finalists for Mervo’s valedictorian honor. He’s also an active member of the National Honor Society and has been offered a full scholarship to both the University of Maryland-College Park and Johns Hopkins University.
“I just want to motivate other younger kids…I have three younger brothers, and my oldest brother wasn’t the best role model,” said McCoy, who will become the first member of his family to attend college.
“So I wanted to show them that just because you come from Barclay and 22nd street, they can still make it and do whatever they want to do.”
McCoy wants to study international business with the goal of owning his own accounting firm.
“I want to get into the trades business and help establish nonprofit trades in Africa,” McCoy said of his future aspirations.
But in the meantime, he just wants to be as successful in college as he was in high school. And with his belief in God, the confidence of a champion and an undying will to succeed, McCoy knows it’s only a matter of time before his goals become reality.
“I am very spiritual in everything that I do and believe in, and I always pray first before I do anything,” said McCoy. “Nothing is going to overpower me because I leave it in God’s hands. Therefore, I never have failure to worry about.”