Marine, 22, dies in high-speed crash

ALLEGAN COUNTY, Mich. (WOOD) - Long-time friends of U.S. Marine Gregory Courtney knelt near a shredded roadside tree Friday, hoping to find answers.

"We had to see it to really believe it," Sam Wallace said. "It doesn't seem real. He was in the Marines, serving his country, bought a nice Camaro, a brand new Camaro. His pride and joy."

Allegan County deputies say Courtney, 22, was driving that Camaro about 120 mph just before 5 a.m. when he lost control on a curve and hit a tree.

The crash happened on M-40, near the Allegan County line, and less than a half-mile from the home of Courtney's father. It appears Courtney was thrown from the car before it caught fire, said police.

Courtney, who recently returned from Afghanistan, was a member of the 2007 Allegan High School state champion wrestling team.

"He was a grunt and survived that, just to come home," Wallace said.

Police told 24 Hour News 8 that they believe alcohol and speed were factors in the crash.

State records show Courtney was ticketed four times for speeding in the last year, including three times since June. His last ticket was on Sept. 1 in Allegan, for going 74 in a 55 mph zone.

His friends said they were drinking with Courtney the night before the accident at a bar in Kalamazoo, but that he left around midnight to take a woman home -- about five hours before the crash.

"He was completely sober when he left," Byers said.

The friends said they tried to send him text messages to make sure he got home safe, but they never heard back from him.

Courtney's former high school wrestling coach remembers Courtney as a family friend.

"Kids come and go," Coach Murray Rose said. "There's always certain teams and individuals that kind of stick with you through the years, and Greg was one of those ones you remember. You remember him for a long time."

Courtney wrestled in the 140-pound weight division as a senior and won a key match against Lowell High School, helping to launch Allegan High School into the state tournament, Rose said. The 2007 title was the school's first since 1992.

Rose said he learned about the death at school Friday.

"It can't be true," he said. "I had to doublecheck with a bunch of people just to make sure it actually was true, and it made me sick to my stomach."

Rose said he is also trying to understand Courtney's death -- and why he would drive that fast.

"Can I see a kid doing that? You know, yeah, maybe. I'm just devastated that it happened to him."