Mekhi Lewis

Mekhi Kevin Lewis (born April 29, 1999) is an American freestyle and folkstyle wrestler. In freestyle, he is a junior World Champion representing the United States. As a folkstyle wrestler, Lewis is an NCAA Division I champion and ACC champion out of Virginia Tech and three-time NYSPHSAA champion as a high schooler.[1] As of May 16, 2020, he is ranked #3 in the pound-for-pound rankings and is the top-ranked 165 pound NCAA wrestler in the country.[2][3]

Mekhi Lewis
Personal information
Full nameMekhi Kevin Lewis
NationalityAmerican
Born (1999-04-29) April 29, 1999
Brunswick, New York, U.S
ResidenceBlacksburg, Virginia, U.S
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight165 lb (75 kg)
Sport
CountryUnited States
SportWrestling
Event(s)Freestyle and folkstyle
ClubSERTC
Titan Mercury WC
Coached byJared Haught
Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
Representing  United States
U.S. National Championships
2019 Fort Worth74 kg
Junior World Championships
2018 Trnava74 kg
Collegiate Wrestling
Representing the Virginia Tech Hokies
NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
2019 Pittsburgh165 lb
ACC Championships
2019 Blacksburg165 lb

Folkstyle

Lewis began wrestling when he was five or six years old.[4]

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.[5] He was also in the football varsity team.[6]

College

When he was a high school senior, Lewis committed to Virginia Tech.[7]

2017-2018

Redshirt: 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.[1]

2018-2019

Freshman: 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-ranked Alex Marinelli, whom he also defeated by decision. After that big win, he defeated fourth-ranked Evan Wick, making it to the finale in where he faced second-ranked 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]

2019-2020

Olympic Redshirt: Lewis did not compete as an NCAA athlete. As a 2018 Junior World Champion and 2019 NCAA champion, he met not one but two of the four criteria to be eligible for an Olympic Redshirt, focusing on freestyle and retaining his eligibility as a sophomore.[13]

2020-2021

Sophomore: Lewis is scheduled to return and compete in this season and was added to the rankings, in where he's ranked #3 in the pound for pound rankings and #1 at 165-pounds.[2][3]

Freestyle career

Junior

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.[14]

Senior

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.[15] 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.[16]

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.[17]

In his next attempt to qualify for the Olympic Trials, he competed at the US Nationals.[18] 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.[19]

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.[20]

Freestyle record
Senior Freestyle Matches
Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location
2019 US Nationals at 74 kg
Loss 11-5 Logan Massa 4-6 December 22, 2019 2019 Senior Nationals - US Olympic Trials Qualifier

Ford Worth, Texas

Win 11-4 Thomas Gantt 3-1
Win 10-4 Chance Marsteller Injury (8-0)
Win 9-4 Elroy Perkin TF 10-0
Win 8-4 Jaison White TF 10-0
2019 Bill Farrell Memorial 4th at 74kg
Loss 7-4 Nazar Kulchytskyy 3-9 November 16, 2019 2019 Bill Farrell Memorial International Open

New York, New York

Win 7-3 Thomas Gantt 5-1
Win 6-3 Logan Massa 7-1
Loss 5-3 Vincenzo Joseph 1-4
Win 5-2 Jakub Sykora TF 11-0
Win 4-2 James Hunsberger TF 10-0
2019 Continental Cup 5th at 74kg
Loss 3-2 Gadzhimurad Alikhmaev 2-6 October 14, 2019 2019 Intercontinental Wrestling Cup

Khasavyurt, Russia

Loss 3-1 Magoma Dibirgadzhiev 3-5
Win 3-0 Alibek Akbaev 7-0
Win 2-0 Dan Vallimont 4-1
Win 1-0 Davit Gevorgyan 3-2

Junior freestyle record
Junior freestyle results
Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location
2018 World Championship at 74 kg
Win 11-2 Abubakar Abakarov 5-1 September 23, 2018 2018 Junior World Wrestling Championships

Trnava, Slovakia

Win 10-2 Bat-Erdene Byambasuren TF 12-1
Win 9-2 Matthew Bartlett Fall
Win 8-2 Erik Reinbok TF 10-0
2018 US World Team Trials at 74 kg
Win 7-2 Alex Marinelli 6-5 May 19, 2018 2018 US Junior World Team Trials

Rochester, Minnesota

Win 6-2 Travis Wittlake 6-1
Win 5-2 Hayden Hastings 8-6
2018 US Open 5th at 74 kg
Win 4-2 Tyler Dow 15-8 April 27, 2018 2018 US Open Junior Wrestling Championships

Las Vegas, Nevada

Loss 3-2 Kaleb Romero 6-11
Loss 3-1 Jeremiah Moody 7-9
Win 3-0 Jarrett Jacques 8-4
Win 2-0 Tanner Skidgel TF 10-0
Win 1-0 Devin Bahr 5-0

NCAA record
NCAA Championships Matches
Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event
2019 NCAA Championships at 165 lbs
Win 5-0 Vincenzo Joseph 7-1 March 23, 2019 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Win 4-0 Evan Wick 5-2
Win 3-0 Alex Marinelli 3-1
Win 2-0 Cael McCormick 4-1
Win 1-0 Cam Coy Fall

Stats
Season Year School Rank Weigh Class Record Win Bonus
2019 Freshman Virginia Tech #2 (1st) 165 28-2 93.33% 43.33%
Career 28-2 93.33% 43.33%

Collegiate awards & records

Freestyle awards and honors
  • 2019
    • US National Championship (74 kg)
    2018
    • Junior World Championship (74 kg)
    • US Junior World Team Trials (74 kg)
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References
  1. "Mekhi Lewis - Wrestling". Hokie Sports. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
  2. "P4P". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
  3. "165". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  4. mark.berman@roanoke.com 981-3125, Mark Berman. "Virginia Tech wrestler Mekhi Lewis savoring NCAA championship". Roanoke Times. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  5. Frezza, Harry. "Wrestling: Bound Brook's Lewis returns to host clinic". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  6. "Mekhi Lewis | Bound Brook HS, Bound Brook, NJ | MaxPreps". www.maxpreps.com. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  7. "Mekhi Lewis Commits To VA Tech". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  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. "Lewis wins gold at Junior World Championships". Virginia Tech Athletics. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  15. "Mekhi Lewis, Ty Walz set to compete at 2019 Continental Cup". Virginia Tech Athletics. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  16. "Walz wins bronze at 2019 Continental Cup". Virginia Tech Athletics. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  17. "Lewis, Walz take fourth place at Bill Farrell Memorial". Virginia Tech Athletics. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  18. "Lewis, Walz set to compete at U.S. Senior Nationals". Virginia Tech Athletics. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  19. "Mekhi Lewis and Ty Walz qualify for U.S. Olympic Team Trials". Virginia Tech Athletics. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  20. 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.
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