Izzy LeVine, wrestling phenom. (Photo courtesy Sean LeVine)
She had to leave Coupeville to truly embrace her destiny.
While a family move to Arizona will likely keep Izzy LeVine from one day earning her diploma at the same prairie-based high school where older sisters Micky and Jae were shining stars, it did open up a whole new world.
If she had remained at Cow Town schools, the youngest of Sean and Joline’s three daughters would have had a tougher time excelling on the wrestling mat.
For one thing, Coupeville has one of the few high schools in Washington state not to have a grappling program of its own.
But after trading Whidbey breeze for Arizona heat, Izzy found a never-ending series of mats, all perfect for slamming her foe into face-first.
Case in point, this past weekend, as she wrestled at two different mega tournaments, and did really well at both.
First up was the 16U Junior National Championships in Fargo, North Dakota, where she finished in the top 32 out of 81 competitors.
Izzy “The Wood Chipper” LeVine, who is in her second season of freestyle wrestling, had a first-round bye, then split her remaining four matches in the 122-pound class.
Her victories included a technical fall of Isabel Navarro of California and a pin of Maritza Martinez of Texas, while one of her losses was a tense nailbiter against Nyah Lovis of Illinois which came down to the final seconds.
The other loss?
A stout effort against top-seeded Kaylyn Harrill of Nebraska, who went on to win a national title.
Not stopping there, Izzy bounced over to the USMC/USA 16U Junior Nationals Beach Bash, where she made her debut under a completely different rule set.
Beating grapplers from North Carolina and Utah, with her only loss to a teammate from Arizona, she claimed 3rd place.
“Super proud of this kid,” said dad Sean, who coached multiple Whidbey soccer teams to great success back in the day.
“Next year will be interesting.”
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