Mekhi Lewis

Mekhi Kevin Lewis (born April 29, 1999) is an American freestyle and folkstyle wrestler. In freestyle, he was the 2018 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.

Folkstyle Lewis began wrestling when he was five or six years old.

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. He was also on the football varsity team.

College When he was a high school senior, Lewis committed to Virginia Tech.

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.

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. Post-regular season, he won an ACC title and entered the NCAA championships as the eighth-seeded wrestler at 165 pounds. He opened the tournament with a fall and decision before facing top-seeded Alex Marinelli, whom he also defeated by decision. He then defeated fourth-seeded Evan Wick, making it to the final against second-seeded Vincenzo Joseph. He beat Joseph to become the first Hokie ever to win an NCAA individual championship. After the tournament, he earned the Most Outstanding Wrestler award.

2020-2021 In 2019-2020 Lewis did not compete as an NCAA athlete. As a 2018 junior world champion and 2019 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.

In 2020-2021, Lewis compiled an 8–1 record during regular season, suffering his only loss via injury, which forced him to forfeit out of the ACC Championships.

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.

Senior level

2019 After taking an Olympic redshirt for 2019-2020, Lewis was nominated to compete at the Intercontinental Cup as his first senior freestyle competition. 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.

He then competed at the 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 final. He lost on points and was thrown to the consolation brackets. He beat Logan Massa and Thomas Gantt to earn a shot at the bronze medal. In the third-place match, he was defeated by three-time NCAA Division III champion Nazar Kulchytskyy.

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

2020 Lewis was scheduled to compete at the 2020 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.

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. In the first round against the Ohio RTC, he lost 9-2 to Carson Kharchla, but went on to close the day with a technical fall over Jevon Balfour. 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 2020 US national champion Logan Massa in a rematch.

Freestyle record

Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location

Loss 13-8

Win 13-7

Loss 12-7

Win 12-6

Loss 11-6

Loss 11-5

Ford Worth, Texas Win 11-4

Win 10-4

Win 9-4

Win 8-4

Loss 7-4

New York, New York Win 7-3

Win 6-3

Loss 5-3

Win 5-2

Win 4-2

Loss 3-2

Khasavyurt, Russia Loss 3-1

Win 3-0

Win 2-0

Win 1-0

Junior freestyle record

Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location

Win 11-2

Trnava, Slovakia Win 10-2

Win 9-2

Win 8-2

Win 7-2

Rochester, Minnesota Win 6-2

Win 5-2

Win 4-2

Las Vegas, Nevada Loss 3-2

Loss 3-1

Win 3-0

Win 2-0

Win 1-0

NCAA record

Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event

Loss 7–1

Win 7–0

Win 6–0

Win 5–0

Win 4–0

Win 3–0

Win 2–0

Win 1–0

Stats Season Year School Rank Weigh Class Record Win Bonus 2021 Sophomore

2

8–2 80.00% 50.00% 2019 Freshman 8 (1st) 28–2 93.33% 43.33%

Collegiate awards and records

Freshman (18-19) NCAA Division I (165 lbs) ACC Conference (165 lbs) NCAA Outstanding Wrestler ACC Wrestler of the Year (2019, 2022) 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)