CROSS COUNTRY TIMES

Green County, Willard, Missouri
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Church Missionary Wrestles With Time Commitments and Team-Mates
(click article to read)

Outstanding Senior Wrestlers for 2005–2006

Wrestling USA Magazine, Preseason Picks Utah Wrestlers of the Year

Levi Mele
Uintah High School, 119 lbs.

School Classification: 3A

Mele is about as solid a wrestler as there is in the state. He took state in 3A at 112 lbs. by beating a very tough Casey Smith (Wasatch) and at 103 lbs. the year before, also over Smith, recovering from a loss to the Wasatch stud for the Region 10 championship. He followed that up with powerful performances at the Reno World Championships in April 2004, where he took the title at 105 lbs. in folkstyle, then finished 4th in freestyle at USA Wrestling Junior Nationals in Fargo that same year. He also won a national title in 2004 in the sophomore division at the BRUTE-adidas Nationals. In 2006, it's a given that he'll join that elite list of three-time state champions.

2005 State Champion (112 lbs.) 2004 State Champion (103 lbs.) 2004–2005 Record: 42-2.

Following is a summary of Levi's wrestling career so far:

Two-Time High School State Champion

2005 Wrestling USA Magazine Utah Wrestler to Watch

2005 Champion, Region X

2005 Champion, Top of the Rockies (Denver, Colo.)

2005 Champion, Uintah Tournament of Champions

2005 3rd Place, Iron Man Tournament (Cleveland, OH)

2004 Champion, Reno World Championships

2004 National Champion, Sophomore Division, BRUTE-adidas Nationals

2004 4th Place, USA Wrestling Junior National Championships

2004 Champion, Top of the Rockies

Wrestling USA Magazine Preseason Picks

Nationally Ranked Utah Senior in National Senior Rankings (119 lbs.): No. 9

Wrestlemania: Whether on the mat or in the classroom, these small-school wrestlers are excelling

Sunday, December 18, 2005

By ALLEN GEMAEHLICH

The Daily Sentinel—Grand Junction, CO

They come from small towns most people haven’t heard of, unless they’re from the area.

They’re not dumb jocks hoping they have enough athletic ability to get them a college scholarship. In fact, Levi Mele of Uintah (Utah) High School, Tucker Lane of Nucla and Quinten Fuentes of Roosevelt are quite intelligent, motivated and involved in their schools, yet they’ve achieved a level of success in wrestling that is rare for young athletes.

All three wrestlers placed in the Warrior Classic on Saturday at Central High School.

Mele takes college classes, is in Future Business Leaders of America, student government, maintains a 3.9 grade-point average and even updates the wrestling team’s Web site.

“I’m not a big sleeper,” he said. “It’s a give-and-take between FBLA and wrestling.”

The Uintah senior grew up in Price, Utah, and Lyman, Wyo., before moving to Vernal.

“I’ve always been around wrestling,” Mele said. “I started wrestling before I started school.”

Mele’s grandfather is still coaching wrestling at Carbon (Utah) High School, his father was a state champion and one of his older brothers also was a state champion.

Mele was recruited by Stanford, Harvard, Lehigh, Oklahoma and Boise State and signed with Lehigh.

“I can redshirt, take my LDS (church) mission then come back and wrestle,” he said.

Mele plans on studying business and political science with the hopes of some day running for governor or even for president of the United States.

Mele has always been active, but took his involvement to heart eight years ago.

“My biggest change was in the fourth grade when we moved to Vernal,” Mele said. “My older sister died in a car accident. Since then, I’ve gotten involved in everything I can.

“I want to do all that I can because you never know what the next day could bring.”

Triple threats: 3 wrestlers — Lane, Mele, Fuentes — win a third Warrior Classic title

By By KENT MINCER The Daily Sentinel—Grand Junction, CO

Sunday, December 18, 2005

They’re in rarified air, a special few of the thousands of wrestlers who have competed in the Warrior Classic over its 29-year run.

Three wrestlers became three-time Warrior champions Saturday, joining five others who’ve earned that distinction over the years.

Levi Mele, Quinten Fuentes and Tucker Lane became the first wrestlers since Anthony Guillen of Central in 1994 to earn their third Warrior Classic title.

Mele, a 119-pounder from Uintah (Utah), earned his third title in three different weight classes with a pin in 3:56 of Fruita Monument’s Jason Blasdel in the championship match.

Mele won the 103-pound title as a sophomore and the 112-pound championship last year. He missed out on a chance to become the tournament’s only four-time champion because the team traveled to another tournament his freshman year.

Wrestling in Grand Junction is almost like old-home week for Mele.

“There’s a lot of familiar faces,” he said.

Mele won the title in impressive fashion. Just as he did in last year’s tournament, he pinned his way through the bracket.

The Utes like to hit the road for preseason tournaments. They opened the season in Las Vegas, then wrestled at what is considered by many the best high school tournament in the country in Ohio last week. Mele, who is ranked ninth in the country at 119 by InterMat, lost in the semifinals to a wrestler from California ranked ahead of him.

He doesn’t mind the lone blemish on his 17-1 record.

“It definitely helps out with the travel,” said Mele. “I’d rather have losses on my record and see tough kids.”

It pays off down the road, as it has the previous two years, when he won the Utah Class 3A state title.

Prep Wrestling: Mele's return makes Class 3-A race a melee

He's baaaack: Ranked No. 9 in the U.S. at 119, wrestler boosts Uintah

By Jay Drew
The Salt Lake Tribune

Wrestling programs at Wasatch, Delta and Viewmont are deservedly getting the most attention this year, but the highest-ranked wrestler in the state, according to Wrestling USA magazine, is Uintah's Levi Mele.
The senior is ranked No. 9 in the country at 119 pounds, replacing Provo's Nathaniel Holt as the top-ranked Utahn. Inexplicably, Holt dropped from No. 5 to No. 12, despite winning the Reno Tournament of Champions last week.
Uintah coaches thought they had lost Mele this summer when he moved to Green River, Wyo., with his parents. But he decided to move back to Vernal to finish high school with his class.
With Mele's return, a showdown is again shaping up in 3-A for the state crown between No. 1 Wasatch, No. 2 Delta and No. 3 Uintah.
Mele, who carries a 3.9 GPA, has signed a "Letter of Understanding" with Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., currently ranked No. 7 in NCAA Division I wrestling. Mele signed the letter, sort of like a national letter of intent, because he plans on redshirting his first year, then departing on an LDS Church mission.
Mele is 19-1 this season, with 12 pins.
The top-ranked junior is Monticello's Wade Eldredge, No. 16 at 145. The top-ranked sophomore is Wasatch's Jake Salazar, No. 1 at 135 in the sophomore/freshman rankings and No. 16 in the overall (all classes) rankings at 135.

Levi Mele
	Class: Senior	Rank: 121	Stars:
	Career Record:	112-23
	School:	Uintah, Utah
	Projected 2005/2006 Weight:	119/125
	Projected College Weight:	125
	GPA:	3.9
	Study of Interest:	Business
Plans to Sign:
Wrestling Accomplishments: 2X Utah 3A State Champion (103 & 112 lbs) Brute/Adidas National Champion 2004 (103 lbs) 4th at Junior Freestyle Championships in Fargo 2004 (105 lbs) 3rd at Walsh Jesuit Ironman 2004 (112 lbs) 3rd at NHSCA Junior Nationals 2005 (112 lbs)

College Choices	Level of Interest	Visit Dates
Stanford	High
Lehigh	Signed
Cornell	Medium
Columbia	Medium
Missouri	Medium

Levi Mele - High School Wrestling Blog