The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 ■ 45 WHERE ARE THEY NOW? to travel to camps all over the country. She, captains John Mandrano and Angie Crumpler and other cheerleaders sought out new ideas for State's spirit squads, including such things as adding a female mascot and the Wolf hands signs. They also became more athletic and began to take more chances, adding some of the elements Buckey was used to from her younger cheerleading days. She followed then-husband Dave back to their home state, where he became an assistant coach at Miami of Ohio. When the couple returned to Raleigh so that he could take a job on Bo Rein's staff in 1979, she was offered the chance to become the school's first permanent cheerlead- ing coach. "They needed someone to take care of the program," she said. "They thought I was going to be more of a babysitter. "I surprised them." Indeed. According to author S.R. Fab- rico in her recently published book "The Pioneers of All Star Cheer," "The school couldn't have foreseen how this spirited coach from Ohio would transform not only its own cheerleading program, but also the entire landscape of competi- tive cheer throughout the Southeast and beyond. "Cathy's vision extended beyond sideline support. Her vision created a comprehensive cheerleading ecosystem that developed athletes from childhood through college, establishing techniques and traditions that continue to define the sport today." To do that, however, she needed more than the meager salary she was earning at NC State. She had to branch out and build from the ground up. "[Athletics director] Willis Casey told me they couldn't pay me much, so I needed to go out and do what all the other coaches did: start a summer camp to make money," she said. First, she started the Cathy Buckey Cheerleader Camps, attracting more than 150 young cheerleaders the first summer. As it grew, she changed the name to Champion Cheerleading Camp. From there, she started her own off- season cheerleading competitions and opened her own gym in Raleigh, where thousands of young kids got their start in a sport that Buckey wanted to see be- come more robust than what she remem- bered from her younger days in Ohio. One of them was Angie Mann McDuffie, who began as a camper in 1982 and went on to become one of Buckey's "cheer ba- bies" at NC State. McDuffie also sent her daughter to NC State to become one of Buckey's first "cheer grandbabies." "I think she was so ahead of her time," said McDuffie, a former high school English teacher who coaches the cheer squad at Charlotte's Weddington High School and has won several state titles. "The thing that was so important, and the thing that sets her apart no matter what age the athlete might be, was that she focused on safety, making sure ev- eryone went through the proper progres- sions before they started doing compli- cated maneuvers and routines. "It was very important to her to teach safety and to teach things from the ground up. You had to start at the begin- ning, work on the basics and work your way up to elite skills." Putting In The Work The cheer world began to take notice when Buckey's teams were invited to the first national collegiate competitions in Hawai'i and San Diego. The Wolfpack finished in the top four from 1983-85, then won its first national champion- ship in '86. It won again in 1991 and '92. All of the championships were a product of hard work, training and precision. Her stan- dards were always exceptionally high. Both male and female candidates had to run a mile in seven minutes. They also had to tumble, flip, climb, lift weights and be able to run longer distances. "We would be out on the practice fields, and the football team would walk by, have their practice, then walk by us when they were done," she said. "We would still be out there when they left. "It took talent as well as hard work. [The late strength and conditioning co- ordinator] Wright Wayne used to say we were the hardest working team on campus. But you don't just start throwing girls 25 or 30 feet in the air and catching them all of a sudden. You had to work up to it." Buckey officially retired from NC State in 1998 to grow her camps, her competitions and her consulting business. In the world of spirit squads, she was an ab- solute legend. As the cheer team celebrates 100 years this year, many of her former teammates, her athletes and her successors gathered at halftime of an NC State men's basketball game in November. Just before the COVID pan- demic in 2020, Buckey sold all of her business ventures and moved to New Hill in Wake County near Harris Lake. ■ Both as a student and later as a coach, Buckey was eager to improve the Wolfpack's cheerleading squad. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS CATHY BUCKEY CHEERLEADING COACH (1979-98) Age: 70 Residence: New Hill, N.C. Occupation: Fully retired Did you know? In addition to her three college cheerleading national champi- onships, the Buckey-coached NC State cheerleading team performed at the opening ceremonies of the 1996 Olym- pic Games in Atlanta. Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker and can be reached at tmpeeler@ ncsu.edu.