Senior Aidan McCooey has pinned down a $1,000 Suffolk County Wrestling Coaches Assn. scholarship after enjoying a sensational season with the Huntington High School mat team.
McCooey compiled a 19-6 mark en route to All-League honors. He won tournaments at Suffern and Herricks and went undefeated at the Minisink Valley dual meet tournament.
The Huntington teenager is headed to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He plans to wrestle there and study to be an environmental engineer.
“High school really helped me to find myself,” McCooey said. “As someone who thought he would quit wrestling in eighth grade, I never expected to succeed in the sport. I’m thankful that my coaches and teachers took the time to help me reach my goals and develop as a person.”
McCooey owns one of the highest academic grade averages of anyone in Huntington’s Class of 2018. He has participated in many co-curricular activities, including the high school’s robotics teams.
The brass section captain of the Blue Devil marching band in which he played trumpet, McCooey has performed in the high school’s jazz ensemble and pit orchestra as well as the a capella choir. The senior has even found time to hold down a part-time job in Halesite.
McCooey is well-known for always keeping on an eye on the future. He has made good use of his time at Huntington High School. The teenager has been inducted into the National Honor Society as well as the Science and French Honor Societies.
Founded in 1826, Case Western enrolls 5,150 undergraduates and nearly 6,700 graduate and professional level students. Its student body includes those from 81 countries. It is one of the top research universities in the country and boasts one of the finest engineering programs.
The Suffolk County Wrestling Coaches Assn. presented McCooey with this year’s Betsy Turk Memorial Scholarship Award. Turk was an Amityville resident who worked at the head table of league and sectional wrestling tournaments for decades.
McCooey worked with numerous Huntington wrestling coaches over the years, including Mike Marinello, Lou Giani, Kieran Mock, Travis Smith, Omar Santiago, Pete Fusco and David Bergmann. He had a very positive experience in the Blue Devil mat program and even included some of his wrestling experiences when penning his college application essays.
