Mele grew up around wrestling. His grandfather helped start the wrestling program at his high school. His father, Greg, was a state champion in Utah and has been a high school and college referee for years. His oldest brother, Tyson, was a state champion in Wyoming. He started out wrestling around at home with his dad and brother.
"Between my brothers and me, I remember on a road trip fighting in the back seat," said Mele. "My dad made us get out and wrestle it out on the side of the road. Definitely (wrestling) is in our blood."
Levi Mele in junior high"As soon as I joined the junior high team in fifth grade," said Mele, "I remember going to state and getting beat that year. I have always been on the smaller side and that was the year I decided I want to start pushing myself. Sixth, seventh, and eighth grade, I took state."
Mele's success was not the main reason he continued to excel in the sport.
"I remember in fifth grade I got picked on a lot just because I was small," said Mele. "I really wanted to go out and prove myself. I am one of those people that if someone tells me I can't, I go and show them how I can. I remember keeping track of goals and things that early. Like I would make myself do pushups every time I would leave my bedroom just as a way to work towards taking State the next year. So I really turned it on before sixth grade and really wanted to make something of it."
Mele trained and wrestled nearly all year round. He was fueled by his need to show everyone he could prove all of the kids who teased him and put him down. Even with that backdrop as motivation, Mele had even more reason to get everything he could get out of himself -- not only in wrestling -- but also in life.
"We had just move to Vernal Utah," said Mele. "My sister Mandi was in her senior year and she got mixed in with the wrong crowd. After a party one night the people she was driving with were intoxicated. They got into a car accident."
Levi Mele with his brothers in 2004 "It made me realize I had to make the most out of the time God's given me ... so since then I have really pushed myself in everything."
The dedication to his life on the mat paid off. As he moved into his high school years, he would cement himself as one of the most sought-after recruits in the nation.
"In my ninth grade year I was only about 89 pounds wrestling 103. I took regions, qualified for (the Utah state tournament),” said Mele. "Then I took state my sophomore, junior and senior year."
Mele tried to describe his wrestling style.
"I really adapt to my opponents," said Mele. "Usually a better guy can beat me once or twice, but they will never beat me three times. I am really good about breaking down my opponents and countering what they are doing. I think the biggest thing that describes my wrestling is hard work and continual drive. I don't stop until that whistle is blown and after it's blown the ref might still have to pull me off of my opponent."
Levi Mele after winning his third state title"I was really involved in the high school quite a bit," said Mele. "From middle school on up I was always in student government. I was the Future Business Leaders of America state president for Utah. So academically, I always put that first. I wanted to find a school that was well know for it's academics as well as its wrestling."
After speaking with many recruiters, Mele decided to attend and wrestle for Lehigh. Before he set foot on campus as a student, Mele made a decision that would change his life forever.
Mele grew up in a family that belonged to the Church of Latter-day Saints. His mother's family practiced the Mormon faith and Mele's parents raised their children in the Mormon tradition. Mele's faith has always been important to him, but events starting with his sister's death helped him grow in his faith.
Mele's father's job kept the family moving back and forth from Utah to Wyoming, but during Mele's junior year he was so involved with the wrestling team -- who at the time was ranked in the top 40 nationally -- and many other groups in school he decided to stay in Utah. With his parents blessing, Mele moved in with a family friend for the school year. He lived with his family in the summer and then during his senior year, he moved back to Utah and in with the local bishop of the area ward. Under the guidance of his bishop, Mele began to learn more about the Mormon faith.
Levi MeleMission work is encouraged by the church for all males, but Mele didn't really consider it until he was convinced by a man he worked with on the oil fields in southwestern Wyoming.
"After I had signed with Lehigh, I moved back home with my parents and was working in the oil fields in southwest Wyoming and the boss that I had was a member of the church as well," recalled Mele. "He served a mission. He would always talk about that and I would talk about all the things I was getting from Lehigh. Financially, it didn't look like Lehigh was going to work for the next year. After listening to him and how much it changed his life to become stronger and more mature. To learn how rewarding it was to be out helping people it just seemed to work out."
Mele's brother was just returning from his mission as Levi was planning to start his, so initially his parents were against forgoing school for his mission. They felt their son wouldn't go back to school after the mission. They had hoped he would go on a mission after school and not go back on his previous commitments.
Mele had talked with the Lehigh coaches. After just signing one of the top recruiting classes in the country, they knew adding Mele would give them the top in the nation and would set them up for the next three or four years. They had wanted him to wrestle for a year and then go on his mission, but Mele had not signed a letter of intent and was free to go. Even though he was not officially tied to the school, Mele planned on returning after his two-year mission.
Levi Mele while on his missionAmong other things, he would spread the Mormon message to people across the area, work with chemically dependent people, and work with children in the region.
During his entire time on the mission, he kept in touch with the Lehigh staff and despite a coaching change, still was looking forward to joining the team when his commitment to the mission had completed. Also during this time he had regular contact with a woman he had known in passing named Shanna-Lee, who would become his fiance.
After completing the mission, he realized financially Lehigh was not a viable option.
"My father had a very successful corporate job so financial aid didn't look good," said Mele. "When you are out on a mission, you pay $450 a month to the church. With that money, they help take care of vehicle costs, apartment you are in, and other expenses. So that was about $10,000, plus another $5,000 for other expenses. After all that and getting back, financially it wasn’t going to work."
He was in the recruiting game for the second time, but this time he knew what to expect.
"I kind of knew what I was doing this time," said Mele. "With Lehigh, I was the fifth recruit of the year in 2005-06, but because I signed so late there wasn't any scholarship money. This time I knew what I was looking for; it was a little bit easier of a process."
Levi Mele with his wife, Shanna-LeeBefore joining Northwestern, Levi and Shanna-Lee were married. They will be one of the few husband and wife combinations on campus. They are sure to be even more rare considering one of them is a Division I athlete. Like with most things in life, Mele doesn't care if some people doubt if his situation will work.
"She's kind of excited to move out to the big city of Chicago -- see things out there," said Mele. "She has never been around wrestling ever, but she's fallen in love with it. She is very supportive of the Northwestern program and pushing me to go to the Olympics. At first when I went to some of the summer camps with some of the guys, they would wonder if that might be weird to be married and wrestling. After thinking about it, I realized it would be great because I will have someone to cook for me, keep me on my diet, and push me towards my goals."
Mele doesn't know what life will hold once his time at Northwestern is complete. He said the Olympics are one goal he has and he also enjoyed working with kids and coaching wrestling while on his mission as well as back home while waiting for school to start. Not unlike many other wrestlers, since it is in his blood, Mele hopes his long term plans include wrestling. If staying involved in the sport he loves is in his post-college plans, Mele's wrestling career will end fairly conventionally. The path he took to get there, however, has been anything but.
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