Cooney finishes college wrestling career grateful for what the sport gave him

MOUNT VERNON — While he has certainly given a lot to the sport, Elliot Cooney said he now looks back at his entire wrestling career with gratitude for what it gave him.

Cooney recently finished his senior season wrestling for Cornell College. In May, the former Nodaway Valley standout — who had a decorated high school career and at the time was the school’s all-time winningest wrestler — will graduate with an engineering degree.

“It’s been a long journey, but I loved every part of it,” Cooney said. “It was an amazing opportunity to be able to wrestle for as long as I did. Not everybody gets that chance to go to the next level and compete at a high level.

“Especially with me almost having that opportunity taken away by a heart condition my freshman season, being able to come back and finish out my college wrestling career was a great opportunity. I thank God I was able to come back and compete after I was told I wasn’t going to be able to.”

Cooney finished just above .500 this season and said he owes much of his experience to his teammates and coaches. He described the culture on the team as a “family.” His goal entering his senior season was to simply enjoy the experience one last time.

“I knew it would be my last year, so I wanted to get to the highest point I’ve been,” Cooney said. “I wanted to wrestle at my best, and I truly do think I got there. At the end of the year, I think I was wrestling my best.

“This year was all about taking in the last opportunity and enjoying it, going as far as I could.”

A key to Cooney’s success this year, he said, was the continued improvement he felt throughout the season.

“We’re more like a family,” Cooney said of his team. “I know it sounds cliché, but it’s really true. We were just so close, and I think that made it so much easier and more fun to wrestle and go through those hard days together.

“The coaching staff we had was really great — always there for us, pushing us to be the best we can be, not just on the mat but in life. That’s a major part of how our head coach approaches things — making good wrestlers, but also making good men for life after college.

“I really attribute a lot of who I am to wrestling. There is a lot of dedication and hardship you have to deal with. Being able to push through those and stick with wrestling for so long gives you a strong work ethic and dedication.”