Bucknell University Athletics
Outside Experience Helps Bucknell Wrestling's Kevin LeValley Shine
11/22/2010 7:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Nov. 22, 2010
By Becky Hart, Bucknell Athletic Communications
There's something about all great athletes that sets them apart from the rest. College athletes generally have a common set of skills that have gotten them this far in their careers, but the best have an extra quality that makes them special. Wrestler Kevin LeValley has proven that he has those all-important physical gifts, setting the Bucknell single-season record for wins with 42 last year. But as he returns to the mat in 2010-11 looking to be named an All-American for a second time, LeValley is putting himself at the front of the pack with experience and a rock-solid mental outlook.
LeValley's wrestling experience extends far beyond the Orange and Blue's mats. In 2008, he competed at the FILA Junior World Team Trials in Las Vegas, Nev., and a year later he was in Akron, Ohio, for the ASICS University Freestyle Championships. The senior's penchant for extra competition continued last summer when he returned to his home state of Colorado for the University World Team Trials and qualified for University World Championships in Torino, Italy.
Wrestling at 66 kilograms/145.5 pounds in Italy, LeValley dropped his first match to Zhan Safian of Belarus and ultimately placed ninth. Although LeValley fell short of his goal of a title, that does not mean that the trip was a total loss. The grappler saw some of the best competition the world has to offer, and that should only pay dividends down the line.
"It definitely brings a little bit of confidence. Obviously, I didn't have the success out there I wanted to, but still I made the University World Team. I was out there competing at the University World Championships against the best college-aged wrestlers in the world. Knowing that I've seen that level of competition, nothing should surprise me," says LeValley. "I feel that not only is it going to give me that drive to succeed this year, but also that it just gives me that confidence factor, knowing that I've competed against and wrestled against the best guys in the world. Not to say that wrestling against the top guys in the United States is going to be any easier because it's not, but you're just not going to be surprised when you step on the mat."
For someone like LeValley, wrestling on the international stage brings anything but the status quo. A need to adjust to the competition and make the switch from the collegiate style of wrestling to freestyle and back again also gives him a leg up in matches back at home.
"The scoring's a little bit different. Some of the rules are a little bit different, but in the end, wrestling is wrestling," explains LeValley of the differences in style. "At the same time, that international experience gives you a new take on things because of the new rules. You approach different positions in different ways, your tactics as far as match strategy are a little bit different. So I think in all, it makes you think more about your wrestling, and in the end it makes you a bit of a smarter wrestler by having that international experience."
Reaching Italy was no easy task to start off with. First came earning an invitation to the trials, something he achieved by placing seventh at the NCAA Championships last March. After pinning two-time All-American Jimmy Kennedy in Colorado Springs for the title and his spot on the championship team, LeValley returned to Lewisburg to continue his preparation over the summer, enduring morning lifting sessions with strength coach Jerry Shreck and cross training workouts at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Then, after work, where he gave campus tours with the Admissions Office, LeValley finished his days with mat work with his Bison teammates. One more trip to the Olympic Training Center at the end of the summer - LeValley knew that missing school to return to Colorado Springs right before the championships wouldn't be possible - gave him yet another shot at working with some of the best wrestlers out there.
"I feel that really was an excellent opportunity because not only was I training out there, but the senior level world team was also training out there at the time," says LeValley. "That just really gave me the opportunity to train with and compete against some of the best guys not only in the country, but in the world right there in Colorado Springs."
LeValley will continue representing Bucknell as an individual when he competes at the NWCA All-Star Classic on Nov. 21. While the rest of the Bison head to Annapolis, Md., for the Navy Classic, LeValley will take on Edinboro's Torsten Gillespie in Fresno, Calif. The match, for LeValley, is a prime opportunity to showcase what he and the Bison have to offer.
"I feel like that will only bring positive attention to our school and to our wrestling program. I'm obviously super excited to go out there. It's kind of crazy that I'm flying all the way across the country to wrestle a kid that does to school two hours away from me in Edinboro," says LeValley. "But I've never wrestled Gillespie before, and he is a tough competitor from what I've seen. I'll be trying to not only go out there and win and represent my school, my teammates, my coaches and my community well, but also to go out there and dominate and really make a statement at the beginning of my senior campaign."
LeValley will need to set a good tone with all that he and Bucknell hope to accomplish this season. The Bison's goals include sending more individuals to the NCAA Championships, finishing with more All-Americans than before and even claiming the program's first national champion. Before they can get to Philadelphia though, the Bison have their eye on a top-two finish at the EIWA Championships, which they host at Sojka Pavilion March 5-6.
"I can't think of a more perfect setup for my senior season than to have the EIWA tournament right here in my own backyard," says LeValley, who competes at 149 pounds. "I can go home after the first day of competition, sleep in my own bed, wake up, brush my teeth in my own bathroom, and that is just such a mental advantage being able to do that."
Bucknell's goals also include filling the voids left by graduates Andy Rendos, David Marble and Shane Riccio. The trio combined for a 340-125 record over their four years in the Orange and Blue, while Rendos was a two-time All-American. Despite the losses, LeValley hardly sees this as a rebuilding year, something the squad talked about last season's year-end banquet.
"Obviously those were three major impact guys on our team last year and for the past four years, but it was not going to be a rebuilding year, more like a reloading year," LeValley said of his teammates' approach to the upcoming campaign. "We felt like we had brought in a solid group of incoming first-year recruits. We had a solid group of core upperclassmen that were gaining more and more experience. We felt like we could really reload into those weight classes that those three individuals were in and put an even better product on the mat this year than we did last year."
LeValley's belief in his younger teammates was affirmed when the Bison held their Orange and Blue intrasquad match earlier this month.
"We really have some young guys on this team that not only are ready to make an impact on this team, but if they continue to push through this grind we have in the season and make some gains over the next four-and-a-half months that they have over the past three months, then they have an opportunity to make an impact, not only on this team, but at the EIWA Championships at the beginning of March and at the NCAA Championships at the third weekend in march down in Philadelphia," predicts LeValley. "That's just super exciting for me, to see those young guys stepping up into that role and really stepping up into those positions as young leaders on this team."
LeValley has his own leadership role to fill as one of the most experienced and successful wrestlers in program history. Even with his resume, however, the two-time national qualifier does not see himself as a one-man show.
"Personally I do feel like I am in a leadership position on this team, but at the same time, in no way am I the only one on this team in that leadership position," he says. "We have several upperclassmen who are verbal, emotional and just physical leaders both in the room and out of the room."
While LeValley puts much of his focus on the success of his teammates and the program as a whole, that does not mean that he doesn't have big expectations for himself. After placing seventh at the national championships a year ago, LeValley's sights are set on moving higher up the podium.
"Personally my ultimate goal is to win a national title this year. Obviously that's a pretty lofty goal no matter who you are, but the way that I need to go about pursuing a goal of winning a national title is wanting the season one match at a time," said LeValley. "I can't start looking too far ahead early on in the season. I need to take the season one match at a time, but at the same time, I need to realize that every day when I step on the mat in that wrestling room that I'm training with a purpose, and that ultimate purpose is to win a national title. And by training with a purpose, I should be able to make the gains necessary and be in the right mental state to accomplish my goals."
Note: This story appeared in a recent edition of the Bucknell Basketball Gameday Program.
