‘He really wanted it’: Hilton Head teen wins national wrestling honor in final season
Third in the nation. All American. Hilton Head High wrestler James Levy achieved his dreams last weekend in the 32nd Annual High School Nationals in Virginia Beach.
Six years ago, Patrick Boulware, now the head wrestling coach at Hilton Head Island High School, was asked to assemble a middle school wrestling team and needed to fill the 80-pound weight class. After wrestling and playing baseball alongside Levy’s older brother as a teenager, Boulware said he knew immediately who should fill the spot.
“[Levy] was my first choice,” Boulware said. “He was this tiny little kid, probably 74 pounds, with this big, giant backpack.”
Now Levy, 17 and wrestling at 113 pounds, is a three-time lower state champion, a Coastal Class champion, only the second wrestler from Hilton Head Island to achieve All-American status.
“Just seeing my brothers go through it, it made me want to be the same way,” Levy said.
“This year, after a lot of hard work, it just felt amazing to finally get that All-American status and finish out my last high school match with a win, taking third.”
It wasn’t just his brothers who spurred this dream. Both his parents, who, according to Levy, were gymnasts at Division 1 schools, showed him what it would take to get there.
His father, John Levy, credits his son’s coaches.
“Without all the coaching, it would have been really hard to get as far as he went this year,” Levy said. “They were in his corner every second they could be, at any time they could be.”
Wrestling in a pandemic
For Levy, that meant less opportunity and room for error as he began his senior year working to become an All-American.
Ahead of the national tournament, Levy was practicing four hours a day up to six days a week.
That determination, Levy said, came from placing second in the state tournament each of the past two years.
“He really wanted it,” his father said. “He wasn’t going to let this year get away from him.”
Levy had to learn to turn his disappointments into a lesson.
His first big loss came in about eighth grade, in the semifinals. He hoped to win the state tournament but took third instead.
“After I took third, I didn’t do too much training to do better, I took it as a loss,” Levy said.
Later, he learned to push harder, train more, test his limits. His fellow wrestlers understand, but Coach Boulware other people have a tough time relating to how much these athletes sacrifice.
“When you make it that far, it is hard to describe that feeling to a non-wrestler or someone who hasn’t been in the sport,” Boulware said. “He did everything that he needed to do, but it was that little bit extra that makes a champion.”
Having a community
After becoming a state champion, Levy says he kicked it up a notch to claim his All-American title, and his teammates helped him get there.
“All my teammates have been really supportive,” Levy said. “I want to leave my mark on the school and leave here knowing that we still have guys that are going to do great things for the wrestling program.”
Boulware said he has had to ask an assistant coach to make sure that Levy isn’t getting too close to his teammates when cheering them on. That could cost them a team point.
“He was the fuel to the fire for the majority of us for this season,” Boulware said. “Every few years you get somebody like that, and that’s something that’s going to be a void going into next year.”
Getting noticed
This win has brought an onslaught of college recruiters, his coach said — a boon because wrestlers from South Carolina don’t often get recruited.
“Unlike football,” Boulware said, “where these kids have a great season and get scouted, it’s really hard because there are so many wrestlers.”
Next? The Olympics aren’t off the table, but Levy said he wants to get his college degree first.
“The best thing that has come out of wrestling,” Levy said, “is probably just knowing that I can put in work at something and work hard for something and know I can achieve my goals.”
