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Continuing the series that began in 2016-17, each Wednesday MGoBlue.com will highlight a Michigan student-athlete and their academic pursuits. Here are our Scholar-Athlete stories, brought to you by Absorbure.
by Leah Howard
Will Levan Wanted to be an engineer, and he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
Now a fifth-year senior and just one semester away from earning a bachelor’s degree in Michigan’s environmental engineering program, Levan followed a somewhat bumpy path from his start in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts to the School of Engineering. The process took a few years; He had to apply for transfer twice after his first attempt was denied. But he stuck with it, worked on raising his grade-point average, continued taking engineering courses and prerequisites, and it finally worked out.
“He was just a roadblock,” said Levan, a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree. “I knew I wouldn’t give up. It wasn’t easy, but I’m glad I did it. I really enjoy solving problems in the real world and learning and using technical skills, and I feel like Felt the engineering school best suited my skills. I’m definitely enjoying what I’m doing now in Environmental Engineering.”
Environmental Engineering is the newest degree program within UM’s School of Engineering and was introduced in 1990 as part of an expansion of the school’s oldest department: Civil Engineering. One of the fastest growing fields in engineering, environmental engineering ultimately aims to help protect the planet and its inhabitants from environmental impacts caused by natural and human activities.
UM’s graduate program has four focus areas: water quality and health, earth systems, environmental fluid dynamics, and environmental policy and sustainable infrastructure. But the program also prides itself on its comprehensive curriculum, something that particularly appealed to Levan, who identified renewable energy among her primary interests.
“It’s a broad field, and it’s not as black and white as some other engineering fields,” Levan said. “Some of those topics are a little more open to interpretation and allow for more creativity with your options and ways of solving the problem. For example, solve the energy crisis. There’s a thousand different ways to go about it.” But it requires creativity and fresh ideas to come up with the best solution.”
Along with his Environmental Engineering concentration, Levan has also completed specialized courses in the Sustainable Engineering program, essentially earning an informal minor with a focus on systems that use materials and materials to reduce their environmental impact. promote energy efficiency. This semester, Levan and a classmate conducted an eco-audit that examined the total carbon footprint of a product—in their case, a computer mouse—from material extraction to manufacture, through its stages of use and, finally, to end-of-life. Disposal of -life throughout the life cycle.
“It was insane to see how much something this small could contribute to overall global carbon production,” Levan said. “And there are a lot of products — just look at everything in this room alone; it takes energy to make every single thing in here. I thought it was really amazing to explore the real world landscape and delve into a product like that.” It was cool. We did. It provided a new perspective.
“I definitely see the need, especially here in the near future, for environmental solutions. People want answers to some of the things that are happening in our society and on our planet, and I want to be involved. It seems A valuable and worthy investment. I have a passion for the environment, keeping it clean and simply doing my part, and I see an opportunity in something that only needs more attention.”
As for his immediate future, Levan doesn’t yet know exactly how he’ll apply his engineering degree after college, but he has some time to figure it out. First, he wants to be a wrestler for some more time.
Levan’s roots in wrestling date back to fourth grade and coincided with his exit from basketball after being deemed too physical for the sport.
“They used to get mad at me for screwing up every game,” Levan said, “but I thought I was playing the game.” I was more aggressive than other kids, so obviously basketball wasn’t my game. got me out of it, and my mom wanted to find a new sport to do in the winter. He saw wrestling as a good way to take out some aggression.”
He won all the wrestling tournaments his first year – “I thought I was an animal” – and was immediately hooked. He eventually gave up summer baseball to wrestle freestyle and Greco in the summer, and upon entering high school, he gave up football to devote himself to wrestling for a year.
paid extra attention. He was an Illinois state champion and four-time state placewinner for Montini Catholic High School and in 2017, during the summer between his junior and senior years, captured the cadet freestyle world title with his high school coach Izzy Martinez and Sean Bormet — then Michigan’s associate head coach and assistant for the U.S. Cadet World Team — in his corner. Nine days later, Levan commits to becoming Wolverine.
At Michigan, LeVan has been a four-year veteran at 157 pounds. He is 67-22 in his career and a two-time All-American, who finished fifth at the NCAA Championships in Detroit last March while previously a NWCA second-team All-America after the COVID-19 cancellation Had earned respect as a freshman. NCAA Tournament. This year, he is listed at No. 4 on Flo Wrestling’s national rankings with a 7-2 record including an exhibition win at the NWCA All-Star Classic last month.
Following his All-Star victory, Levan’s wrestling style became a topic of discussion on social media sites. This is not a new conversation, although with greater success and visibility it has attracted more participants and ideas. Levan’s style is rarely flashy or high-flying – although he has the potential for it – but most commentators have expressed admiration for his incredible strength and focus on fundamental wrestling and good positioning. It’s a style that matches his analytical mind. Levan suggests that this is intuitive.
“I would say that I am a strategic wrestler,” he said, “and my thinking during my matches is very strategic. It comes naturally. I like to think that I have good match awareness. I know what I do.” What I need to do in each scenario to win and come out on top may not work every time, but I’m at least comfortable that I know what to do. That feeling never fades in my head during a match.”
Levan’s wrestling style is also one that will transition well into freestyle, which he plans to pursue after college. But she has one more year of eligibility before that time comes, and she has applied to a Master of Management program through the Ross School of Business. Ultimately, he wants to operate his own business and thinks the combination of degrees will serve him well.
Levan said, “I don’t see myself stopping wrestling in the near future.” “So, I feel like I can just relax, continue wrestling and really see what they call me after college. It’s something I still have to do more research on and I’m going to try to do my research.” Trying to keep my options open. The goal is ultimately myself. My own business. I think wrestling has prepared me and given me some of the leadership qualities to be successful.”
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