WRESTLING: Coggins rises above pressure

BY Joe Werkmeister | SPORTS EDITOR

The gravity of the moment wasn't lost on Billy Coggins. The Rocky Point senior knew exactly what was at stake.

Having always wrestled the highest weight among his two friends and teammates Stephen Dutton and Anthony Volpe, Coggins grew accustomed to the pressure of being the final wrestler among the trio to compete in a tournament. It's always the way it works with the matches in order of ascending weight.

But this was different. Late Saturday night inside Times Union Center in Albany, Coggins felt the pressure not only of winning his own match but also of clinching a team state title and completing a Rocky Point trifecta of individual state champions, an extraordinary feat in high school wrestling.

In a sense, he carried the weight of a school and town on his shoulders.

"The pressure was ridiculous," Coggins said. "The county tournament had a lot of pressure and the state tournament was just that much more."

As Coggins prepared for his 171-pound state final against Joe Kavanagh of Wantagh, Dutton won his second state title at 140 followed by Volpe winning his first at 160. Now it was up to Coggins.

"He always thinks the Three Amigos, the Three Amigos," said Rocky Point coach Darren Goldstein.

"He told me he hates going last," Volpe added.

Brushing aside the pressure, Coggins won a 3-2 decision against Kavanagh, the closest match of the finals among the three Rocky Point wrestlers, clinching the Eagles their first team state title in school history. A combined 12-0 in the tournament, Rocky Point 's three wrestlers scored 72 1/2 points and matched the individual effort last set by Valley Central and Islip in 2005 with three state champions.

"I want to do it for myself, my community, my family and just everyone else who's been there supporting me," Coggins said.

From the end of last season when all three wrestlers finished top five in the state, the possibility of three state champions seemed a very real possibility. Saturday it became reality.

"In this particular case it all came together," Goldstein said. "Anthony, Billy and Stephen won the state title together. I can't think of a better way to end their high school career or my time coaching them."

The three wrestlers posted a combined record of 139-2 this season. And for their career combined for 665 wins, a number than can still increase if they choose to wrestle at Senior Nationals later this year.

In the finals Coggins faced a wrestler in Kavanagh whom he had already beaten earlier in the season, 9-7, one of his closest matches of the year. The rematch proved to be a much lower scoring match as both wrestlers were more cautious on the attack. Coggins came out the more aggressive, but Kavanagh did well to fight off the takedown shots from Coggins.

"He did a great job of almost shutting me down," Coggins said. "I didn't get a takedown until the third period, which really isn't my style. I like to score."

The first period ended scoreless and Coggins put his first point on the board with an escape in the second period. To start the third period Kavanagh started on bottom. But after jumping early twice before the whistle, Coggins elected for a neutral start, which tied the match.

If he got cautioned a third time on the start, it would have been a point. Kavanagh then could have taken the lead with an escape.

"I like to time the whistle, but on top it's a little harder because they can see you moving your hands," Coggins said. "I didn't want to take a chance of jumping it one more time."

Confident that in a tied match he could get the takedown, Coggins went right to the move that has worked so well all year, his single-leg takedown.

"I knew it was time to put up or shut up," he said.

Kavanagh escaped only a few seconds after the takedown to close within a point. But Coggins fought off his final shots to hang on for the one-point win.

As the match ended Coggins felt relieved more than anything.

"I'm so happy, though," he said afterward. "I wanted to do it last year. I was the first seed coming in last year and just to fall short makes this one much sweeter."

joew@northshoresun.com