Fresh from World Cup Gold medal, McCoy leading over 2,000 entries to Convention Center     LAS VEGAS--With any uncertainly on where his olympic wrestling future was heading cleared up considerably, two-time defending super heavyweight freestyle national champion Kerry McCoy is making final preparations for this month's 2002 Las Vegas United States National Wrestling Championships at the newly-expanded Las Vegas Convention Center.     McCoy, who was the 1994 and 1997 NCAA champion while competing at Penn State, and is currently the No. 1 ranked U.S. Freestyle wrestler at 264.5 lbs., went undefeated in five matches last weekend to lead Team USA to the title of the Northern Quest 2002 World Cup of Wrestling.    Featuring Olympic-style wrestling, the 2002 Las Vegas United States National Wrestling Championships, presented by Knickerbocker, will be held April 24-27 in the spacious new Hall S-3 at the Convention Center. The massive tournament, with over 2,000 entries competing, will also include the U.S. Freestyle Nationals, the U.S. Greco-Roman Nationals, the U.S. Women's Nationals, the U.S. Veteran's Nationals, and the Western Junior Regionals. ESPN2 will televise the event nationally on a delayed basis. The Women's Freestyle Finals will be televised on the Oxygen Network.    Over 40 entries from Nevada are expected. Leading the Nevada contingent will be Las Vegas brothers Eddie, Greg and Chris Gifford, Josh and Jared Medina, Mesquite*s Skyler and Scott Woods, Reno's Chad Espinoza, along with Las Vegas' Eugene Harris and Matt Azevedo.  Eddie Gifford, Josh Medina, Skyler Woods, Harris and Azevedo will wrestle in Senior Freestyle while the others will all compete in Junior Freestyle.    Action on 20 mats will run from 12:30 p.m. - 10 p.m. on April 24-25 and 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday, April 26. On Saturday, April 27, the morning session will run from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., followed by the championship finals in Freestyle, Greco-Roman and Women's Freestyle starting at 6 p.m.    An assistant wrestling coach at Lehigh University, the muscular 6-2 McCoy lived up to his No. 1 ranking at the World Cup, defeating opponents from Germany, Canada, Mongolia, Korea and Russia in the two-day event.     In the final match of the World Cup, McCoy, a 2002 U.S. Olympian who finished fifth in Sydney, calmly and methodically iced the U.S. team victory over Russia, defeating Oleg Khorpiakov, 4-1. It was the fourth straight year that McCoy closed out the World Cup tournament with a victory. The first period ended at 1-1, with each athlete scoring a takedown. In the second period, McCoy wore down Khorpiakov, adding three more takedowns in the final 1:30 of the match.    "It was my intention to come here (World Cup in Spokane, Wash.) and see how I perform, and base my decisions on that," said McCoy, 27, who competes for the New York Athletic Club. "I felt good. I'm going to put a bullseye on some future goals and see how I do."    McCoy's complete focus now returns to Las Vegas and the freestyle national championships, where he has finished in the top five in each of the last eight years. Besides his gold medals the last two years, McCoy's enviable record of consistency in the nationals includes two silver medals (1996, 1997) and two bronze medals (1995, 1999). McCoy had a fourth in his first year (1994) and his lowest finish in this  event was fifth (1998).     Among the challengers who will attempt to quench McCoy's quest to become the first freestyle wrestler in his weight category to win at least three straight since the legendary Bruce Baumgartner's 14 consecutive crowns (1983-1996) will be Tolly Thompson and Tommy Rowlands.    Thompson, 28, was the 1995 NCAA champion while at Nebraska, the 1998 super heavyweight Freestyle national champion and finished second last year to McCoy in Las Vegas, losing a 5-2 decision. He wrestles for the prominent Sunkist Kids team and is currently ranked No. 2 in the nation.    Fresh from winning this year's NCAA championship as just a sophomore at Ohio State, Rowlands, who will compete in Las Vegas for the Dave Schultz Wrestling Club, was an impressive fourth in last year*s Freestyle national championships as a freshman in college. He comes to Las Vegas ranked No. 3 in the country at 264.5 lbs.    Defending 187.25 Freestyle national champion Cael Sanderson, already the most honored and decorated collegiate wrestler of all time, will also resume his Olympic dreams in Las Vegas.    Having completed an unprecedented collegiate career at Iowa State with a perfect 159-0 career record, four NCAA titles and the only wrestler ever to be honored four consecutive years as the most outstanding wrestler of the NCAA Championships, Sanderson will now take center stage in the entertainment and sports capital of the world.    Advance VIP, Preferred and General Admission All-Event tickets are on sale through April 23 at the LVSC ticket office at 702.838-4091. With admission for all four days, VIP All-Event packages are $150 each, Preferred All-Event tickets are $65 each and General Admission All-Event tickets are on sale for $45 for adults and $20 for students (6 to 17 years old).    Preferred and General Admission daily tickets will be available at the door only. Preferred daily tickets will be $35 while General Admission daily tickets will be $25 for adults and $15 for students.     Tickets to the finals only (to be held on Saturday, April 27) will be available on the day of the event at the door. Preferred will be $25 each while General Admission tickets for the finals (6 p.m., Saturday, April 27) will be $20 for adults and $10 for students.    Las Vegas has hosted and the LVSC and USA Wrestling have worked together to hold 12 previous Nationals in the Southern Nevada area, including the past three years.    In Las Vegas, America's finest wrestlers will be starting the road to the World Championship. National Championships will be decided in the seven international weight categories for senior men and women competitors.    There will be six weight divisions for the veteran's divisions, split into five divisions based on ages.    Titles in 12 weight divisions will be decided in the Western Junior Regionals. Any qualified junior wrestler may compete in one of seven regional championships held annually by USA Wrestling across the country.    The top seven place winners in each weight class in men's freestyle and Greco-Roman along with the top eight women*s place winners in each weight class qualify for the World Team Trials.    For men, the weight divisions are: 121 lbs. (55 kilograms), 132 lbs. (60 kg), 145.5 lbs. (66 kg), 163 lbs. (74 kg), 185 lbs. (84 kg), 211.5 lbs. (96 kg) and 264.5 lbs. (120 kg).     The seven women's weight divisions are: 105.5 lbs. (48 kg), 112 lbs. (51 kg), 121 lbs. (55 kg), 130 lbs. (59 kg), 138.75 lbs. (63 kg), 147.5 lbs. (67 kg) and 158.5 lbs. (72 kg).    For 17 years, the LVSC, a non-profit organization benefitting the youth of Las Vegas under the direction of President Larry Barnson, has been producing special events in the Las Vegas area. Other major wrestling events produced by the LVSC include the 1997 USA Wrestling Freestyle World Team Trials, the 1998 NAIA National Wrestling Championships and the 1998 Junior World Freestyle Wrestling Championships. In July of 1999, the LVSC presented the U.S. Taekwondo Junior Olympics with over 5,000 participants. Area youth have received nearly $250,000 in event proceeds.    Additional information is available from the LVSC offices at 702.361.5017 or on the organization's website at www.lvsports.org.