Augsburg's LeVesseur lost for year because of academics
Marcus LeVesseur, widely considered one of the best athletes in NCAA Div. III wrestling history, will not be competing this season for perennial power Augsburg College, according to head coach Jeff Swenson.
“Marcus is working through some personal issues and academic issues and getting himself back in line with the expectations that we have for student-athletes here at Augsburg,” said Swenson. “That’s the absolute truth.”
According to a Minneapolis television (Channel 9) website, LeVesseur was one of the 330 people who ran into problems stemming from throwing objects at undercover cops at a football game. The Minneapolis Star Tribune had reported earlier that LeVesseur, both a dominating wrestler and a starting quarterback at Augsburg, was also arrested at a party Sept. 18.
He was charged originally with fifth-degree assault, damage to property and disorderly conduct. LeVesseur pleaded not guilty and asked for a trial which was scheduled. LeVesseur started the first two football games of the season but only started one of the past seven, missing four completely.
“The football game incident is not the reason why Marcus won’t be with us,” said Swenson. “Augsburg has certain expectations and requirements of all of its student-athletes and Marcus needs to take some time at this juncture to align his personal and academic conduct with those expectations.”
Le
Vesseur, who owns an incredible 124-0 college record at the NCAA Div. III level, has been a huge asset to the defending national champs. Augsburg has won nine national titles and finished as national runners-up another five times in the past 15 years.LeVesseur, a three-time champion, was on course to become the first four-time national champion in NCAA Division III history and join Cael Sanderson (Iowa State) as the only wrestler to complete a four-year career unbeaten.
His 124 straight wins are second in NCAA history, only to Cael Sanderson’s 159. Many expected LeVesseur to eclipse that mark this winter.
Just how good is LeVesseur? After his junior year (2004-2005), he received W.I.N. Magazine’s Schalles Award as collegiate wrestling’s top pinner.
He went 40-0 at 157 pounds and recorded 24 pins; identical totals and .600 pinning percentage to what Sanderson tallied in his final season at Iowa State in 2002. He also scored one technical fall and seven major decisions to edge out Steve Mocco (Oklahoma State) and others for the prestigious honor.
Not only has LeVesseur been undefeated during 124 college matches, he has only been taken down one time.
“He is as good as I have ever seen in all my years at the Div. III level,” said Swenson. “Marcus is getting better every year and is an extremely hard worker in addition to being very talented. He is one of the very hardest workers we have.”
Although LeVesseur will miss the 2005-2006 season, Swenson hopes to have him back in the line-up next season.
“Right now, Marcus’ consecutive victories are the furthest thing from my mind,” Swenson continued. “I want him to graduate and get into a position to have a good professional career and a successful life.
“We are looking for him to come back next year. To do that, he is going to have to improve every day. Here at Augsburg we focus on getting better, on improving 1 percent every day…doing the little things. “When you do that, they add up to winning. Marcus did all that for us consistently, and it worked. He is a great kid. He just ran into some academic and personal problems and we hope to get him back on track for next year.”
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