Mekhi Lewis

Mekhi Kevin Lewis (born April 29, 1999) is an American freestyle and folkstyle wrestler. In freestyle, he was the '18 Junior World Champion and the US National runner-up in 2019. As a folkstyle wrestler, Lewis is an NCAA Division I champion and ACC champion out of Virginia Tech and three-time NJSIAA champion as a high schooler.[1] As of January 26, 2021, Lewis is the top-ranked 165-pound NCAA wrestler in the country as per The Open Mat.[2]

Mekhi Lewis

Personal information
Full name	Mekhi Kevin Lewis
Nationality	American
Born	April 29, 1999 Brunswick, New York, U.S
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	165 lb (75 kg)
Sport
Country	United States
Sport	Wrestling
Event(s)	Freestyle and folkstyle
Club	SERTC Titan Mercury WC
Coached by	Jared Haught
Medal record Men's freestyle wrestling Representing  United States US National Championships 2019 Fort Worth (SN) 74 kg Junior World Championships 2018 Trnava 74 kg Collegiate Wrestling Representing the Virginia Tech Hokies NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships 2019 Pittsburgh 165 lb ACC Championships 2019 Blacksburg 165 lb

Folkstyle

Lewis began wrestling when he was five or six years old.[3]

High school

He attended Bound Brook High School in New Jersey and went on to win two NJSIAA titles during his high school wrestling years.[4] He was also in the football varsity team.[5]

College

When he was a high school senior, Lewis committed to Virginia Tech.[6]

2017-2018

Lewis chose to redshirt and competed unattached and compiled a record of 28 wins and 2 losses, winning multiple open tournaments such as the Hokie, Wolfpack, Storm, Appalachian and Edinboro Opens. He also placed fourth at the Southern Scuffle.[7]

2018-2019

As a freshman, Lewis posted a record of 21 wins and 2 losses (13-1 in duals), won the Hokie Open and placed second at the Cliff Keen Invitational during regular season.[8][9] Post-regular season, he won an ACC Conference title and entered the NCAA championships as the eight-seeded wrestler at 165 pounds.[10] He opened up the tournament with a fall and a decision and went on to face top-seeded Alex Marinelli, whom he also defeated by decision. After that big win, he defeated fourth-seeded Evan Wick, making it to the finale in where he faced second-seeded Vincenzo Joseph. He beat Joseph by points crowning himself as the first Hokie to win an NCAA individual championship in the history of the wrestling program.[11] After the tournament, he earned the Most Outstanding Wrestler award.[12]

2020-2021

In 2019-2020 Lewis did not compete as an NCAA athlete. As a '18 Junior World Champion and '19 NCAA champion, he met two of the four criteria to be eligible for an Olympic Redshirt, focusing on freestyle and retaining his eligibility as a sophomore.[13]

In 2020-2021, Lewis is currently competing in regular season, and has compiled a 5–0 record.[14]

Freestyle career

Junior level

Lewis never competed consistently in freestyle, having attended just two tournaments (US Open and WTT) before his appearance at the 2018 World Championships, being this tournament his first international competition ever. He went on to defeat all of his four opponents (two by technical fall), claiming gold.[15]

2019

After taking an Olympic Redshirt for 19'-20', Lewis was nominated to compete at the Intercontinental Cup as his first senior freestyle competition ever.[16] He defeated three opponents on his way to the semifinals, where he was downed on points and thrown to the third-place match. He also lost the bronze-medal match, placing fifth at the International level tournament.[17]

He then competed at he Bill Farrell Memorial in an attempt to earn a qualification ticket for the Olympic Trials. He defeated two opponents by technical fall and was subsequently matched with Vincenzo Joseph, whom he had defeated earlier that year at the NCAA championship finale. He lost the match on points and was thrown to the consolation brackets. He proceeded to beat Logan Massa and Thomas Gantt to earn a shot at the bronze medal. At the third-place match, he faced three-time NCAA Division III Champion Nazar Kulchytskyy, whom he was eliminated by to place fourth.[18]

In his next attempt to qualify for the Olympic Trials, he competed at the US Nationals.[19] He dominated on his way to the finals with two technical fall victories, an 8-0 injury and a decision. At the finals, he faced Bill Farrell Memorial opponent Logan Massa and was defeated by him on points, earning runner-up honors and a run at the Olympic Trials.[20]

2020

Lewis was scheduled to compete at the 20' US Olympic Team Trials on April 4 at State College, Pennsylvania. However, the event was postponed for 2021 along with the Summer Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving all the qualifiers unable to compete.[21]

After being unable to compete for almost one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lewis represented the SERTC in the FloWrestling: RTC Cup at 74 kilograms during December 4-5.[22] In the first round against the Ohio RTC, he lost 2-9 to Carson Kharchla, but went on to close the day with a technical fall over Jevon Balfour.[23] In the second day, he was defeated by two-time NCAA Division I All-American Evan Wick, before picking up another technical fall over Balfour and helping the team to make the finals, where he lost to '20 US National Champion Logan Massa in a rematch.[24]

Freestyle record

Junior freestyle record

NCAA record

Stats

Collegiate awards and records

• Freshman (18-19)

  • NCAA Division I (165 lbs)
  • ACC Conference (165 lbs)
  • NCAA Outstanding Wrestler
  • ACC Wrestler of the Championships
  • First NCAA champion of the Virginia Tech Hokies' team

Freestyle awards and honors

• 2019

  • US National Championship (74 kg)

  2018

  • Junior World Championship (74 kg)
  • US Junior World Team Trials (74 kg)

References

1. "Mekhi Lewis - Wrestling". Hokie Sports. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
2. Smith, Earl (2021-01-26). "NCAA DI College Individual Rankings - January 26th, 2021". The Open Mat. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
3. [email protected] 981-3125, Mark Berman. "Virginia Tech wrestler Mekhi Lewis savoring NCAA championship". Roanoke Times. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
4. Frezza, Harry. "Wrestling: Bound Brook's Lewis returns to host clinic". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
5. "Mekhi Lewis | Bound Brook HS, Bound Brook, NJ | MaxPreps". www.maxpreps.com. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
6. "Mekhi Lewis Commits To VA Tech". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
7. Steen, Alex (2018-02-08). "Top 10 Redshirting Freshmen in NCAA Division I Wrestling - 2018". The Open Mat. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
8. "Lewis, Moore win titles at the Hokie Open". Virginia Tech Athletics. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
9. writer, Nicholas Hatch, sports staff. "Hokies wrestling places three of its own at Cliff Keen Invitational". Collegiate Times. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
10. "NCAA wrestling tournament brackets 2019: Top seeds announced for each weight class". North Jersey. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
11. "NCAA wrestling championships: Penn State wins 2019 national title | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
12. Rapp, Timothy. "NCAA Wrestling Championships 2019: Penn State Wins Title, Results, Standings". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
13. "Lewis to utilize Olympic redshirt in 2019-20". Virginia Tech Athletics. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
14. "Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) Profile | WrestleStat". www.wrestlestat.com. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
15. "Lewis wins gold at Junior World Championships". Virginia Tech Athletics. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
16. "Mekhi Lewis, Ty Walz set to compete at 2019 Continental Cup". Virginia Tech Athletics. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
17. "Walz wins bronze at 2019 Continental Cup". Virginia Tech Athletics. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
18. "Lewis, Walz take fourth place at Bill Farrell Memorial". Virginia Tech Athletics. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
19. "Lewis, Walz set to compete at U.S. Senior Nationals". Virginia Tech Athletics. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
20. "Mekhi Lewis and Ty Walz qualify for U.S. Olympic Team Trials". Virginia Tech Athletics. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
21. NJ.com, Bill Evans | NJ Advance Media for (2020-03-13). "U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials postponed for coronavirus: Burroughs, Green, Ashnault, Suriano in limbo". nj. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
22. "RTC Cup Lineups | Virginia Tech Wrestling Board". Virginia Tech Wrestling Board. November 18, 2020.
23. "Spartan Combat RTC and Cliff Keen WC advance to semifinals on FloWrestling's RTC Cup". Team USA. December 4, 2020.
24. "See the results for the FloWrestling: 2020 RTC Cup Presented by Titan Mercury Wrestling Club wrestling event on FloWrestling.org". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2020-12-24.

External links

• Mekhi Lewis at United World Wrestling