Twenty years of coaching was enough for Ron Ledbetter.

Ledbetter has stepped down as South Side Beaver High School's wrestling coach and has turned the reigns over to a Rams alumnus.

"It was the right time to get out," Ledbetter said. "I felt it in my gut. I always said that I would step down when I didn't have that fire in my belly to keep coaching. I didn't feel that this past season, so I knew it was time to step down."

Family was also a consideration.

"My kids are involved in a lot of things and I want to spend more time with them," Ledbetter said. "I'm also very involved with my church."

Ledbetter is also South Side Beaver's athletic director.

"I've been AD for seven years," Ledbetter said. "I also spend half of my day teaching. I teach geometry, statistics and physics."

Ledbetter was a four-year starter at Batavia High School in Cincinnati, then lettered four years at Allegheny College. His coaching career began immediately after graduating from college.

"I started the wrestling program at John Hay High School in Cleveland," Ledbetter said. "I hooked on as a teacher at South Side Beaver the following year. I was a volunteeer coach the first year and a paid assistant for three years before taking over as head coach."

In 15 seasons as the Rams head coach, Ledbetter had a 148-97 record, which ties him for 50th place on the WPIAL's all-time career win list for coaches.

"My most exciting season [as a head coach] was my first," Ledbetter said. "We had a sophomore-oriented team that was going through a rebuilding phase. Nobody expected anything from us. We almost upset West Allegheny in our last match and just barely missed qualifying for the WPIAL team tournament."

Ledbetter's biggest highlights were provided by John Prezzia as well as his 2003-04 squad.

Prezzia became South Side Beaver's first PIAA champion when he claimed the Class AA title in 2006 as a freshman. Unfortunately, a string of injuries prevented Prezzia from reaching those heights again.

In 2004, South Side Beaver advanced to the WPIAL Class AA title match before losing to Burrell.

"The other thing that sticks out for me is the many relationships I've built over the years," Ledbetter said. "We had three kids from both the Checkan and Hughes families. I've also built numerous relationships with former wrestlers, coaches and officials. It's like having another family."

Ledbetter has been replaced by Jerry "Bear" McCoy, a 1992 graduate of South Side Beaver. McCoy has coached the South Side Youth Program the past three years.

"When Ron came to me and asked if I was interested in taking over as head coach, I recommended [varsity assistant] Jason Winters, but he teaches at Hopewell and decided to take an assistant coaching position there," McCoy said. "After considering the offer, I felt it was a great opportunity for me."

McCoy was a four-year starter for the Rams and qualified for the PIAA Class AA tournament three times. He placed third in the WPIAL three consecutive years, all at 189 pounds, and finished fourth in the state his senior year.

"I also wrestled four years in college, three years at California and my last year at Millersville," said McCoy. "I fell one win short of an NCAA berth twice."

McCoy had no interest in coaching when he graduated from college. That changed when he started tutoring (former Rams wrestlers) Brandon and Dustin Brodmerkel.

"Three years ago, I started working with my son, Bishop," McCoy said. "At that point, I was asked to run the youth program. My son was 6 years old at the time. It's been fun coaching him the past three years."

McCoy has all but two wrestlers returning from last year's squad.

"I have a good group of kids coming back," McCoy said. "I also have two PIAA qualifiers back."

David Demor placed seventh in the PIAA at 135 last year, while Colin Checkan qualified at 145.