Penn-Trafford’s Nick Coy looking to continue season of firsts at WPIAL wrestling tournament

By: Paul Schofield
Wednesday, February 27, 2019 | 6:26 PM

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It’s been a year of firsts for Penn-Trafford senior wrestler Nick Coy.

He won his first Section 1-AAA title Saturday, edging Hempfield sophomore Ty Linsenbigler.

He captured his first Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association title Jan. 5, and he opened the season Dec. 8 by winning his first Eastern Area Invitational title.

Now Coy has his eyes set on two more titles – WPIAL and PIAA.

He is the No. 1 seed in the 138-pound weight class for the WPIAL/PIAA Southwest Regional tournament, which begins Friday at Canon-McMillan and concludes Saturday.

Coy (30-4, 129-35) is the only senior who is looking to become a four-time PIAA qualifier. He placed fifth in the state at 132 pounds in 2018 and was second in the WPIAL.

He is ranked No. 1 in the Trib HSSN rankings and No. 4 in the state by PaPower.Wrestling.com. He placed second at the King of the Mountain tournament in December and sixth in the Powerade tournament.

He hasn’t lost since the Powerade tournament, a streak of 19 wins in a row.

“It’s been a fun season, kind of more laid back,” Coy said. “I committed (to Virginia) and signed before the season started, so it’s all about getting better, having fun trying to accomplish things that I hadn’t accomplished yet, which I definitely have a couple times.”

Coy will be joining his brother Cam at Virginia.

One of the biggest reasons for Coy’s success has been his health. He has managed to stay relatively injury free.

“One of the keys when it comes to this time of the year is being healthy and having your body feel good,” Coy said. “Luckily, I’ve been blessed to have that this season. Hopefully, I’ll continue to have that.”

He wrestled most of the season at 145 pounds but dropped down at the end of the regular season.

He expects Linsenbigler to be his chief competition, but he’s not looking past anyone.

“I hope to make it to the finals and see Ty again,” Coy said. “We’ll have another showdown. Last week, it was a fun match, a lot of action.”

Penn-Trafford coach Rich Ginther said Coy is wrestling with a lot of confidence this season.

“When he placed fifth in the state tournament last season, he knew he could compete with anyone,” Ginther said. “Then, he started the season with the win at Gateway, and it’s continued. He was 10 seconds away from winning the King of the Mountain tournament for the second time in his career.

“His confidence is a lot higher. His work ethic is second to none. He has a good mindset.”

Coy said having a chance to qualify for the state tournament four consecutive seasons is quite an accomplishment.

“It’s something to be proud of,” Coy said. “I’m kind of going into this tournament relaxed, pushing all the nerves away and plan to have fun.”

He said the goal from the start of the season was to get to the top of the podium in Hershey.

He’s two weeks away from accomplishing his goal. If he does, he will join his brother as a WPIAL and PIAA champion.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Penn-Trafford