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Younkin back in black & gold for FHSU
12/6/2009
By CONOR NICHOLL
cnicholl@dailynews.net
After a stellar prep wrestling career at Oakley, Levi Younkin went to Colby Community College for two years and Wichita State University for one. Then, he transferred to Fort Hays State University for the 2008-09 wrestling season. The original plan was to wrestle one year with FHSU and then head to Cleveland Chiropractic College in Kansas City.
Younkin started all year, but didn't make the national tournament. Shortly after the season ended, Younkin realized he wanted to wrestle one more year. He postponed chiropractic school and stayed in Hays.
"I thought the team this year would be better than it ever has been and I thought I would regret it if I didn't come back and finish it out," he said. "I didn't want to leave on that note and I knew a lot of the guys on the team would be back. I thought we had a good shot of doing real well. I just couldn't give it up."
Tiger head coach Chas Thompson gave Younkin a deadline in late spring to decide whether the 149-pounder would stay or leave. Younkin waited awhile after the season before he officially told Thompson he wanted to come back.
"The ultimate goal would be a national champion, but I want to be an All-American," Younkin said. "That's the main thing. I don't want to leave with less than that."
"He should have been a national qualifier," Thompson said. "He beat two (returning) All-Americans last year. It just didn't happen for him. Hopefully we can get that for him his senior year."
This year, Younkin has started all season at 149 pounds for the No. 13-ranked Tigers.
"I had already committed to leaving -- had to make certain that that's what I really wanted to do," he said. "I just wanted to make sure that I still felt that way. I knew I was probably going to stay. I just wanted to take some time to make sure."
Younkin rejoined a team with multiple seniors and Kansas natives, including 125-pounder Tommy Edgmon; a Goddard native; senior 157-pounder Danny Grater from Clay Center and Shawn Kuhlman, a 174-pounder who competed with Younkin at Oakley.
"It was kind of up in the air," Edgmon said. "... He was ready to go to chiropractic school. We all graduated in the same year -- there were like six of us that graduated (high school) in '05. So really, we wanted him to stick around (with) all of the seniors. I know we were kind of being stingy. He has to go off and do his own thing and graduate.
"I think we kind of put some pressure on him to come back and graduate with all of us and be here for our senior year with us and then he can go onto chiropractic school," Edgmon added. "That was a big push. I think we are going to really solid this year, especially with him in the lineup."
Fort Hays has started the year strong with multiple wrestlers placing at the season-opening University of Central Missouri Open and the University of Nebraska-Omaha meet. On Thursday, FHSU lost a close season-opening dual to No. 4 University of Central Oklahoma, 16-12, at Gross Memorial Coliseum. Younkin open the season with a 2-3 record, including a 2-0 loss to Central Oklahoma's Colby Robinson, ranked No. 6 in the country.
"We knew of each other growing up," Younkin said. "You just kind of have connection throughout the years that makes everything a lot easier. You know everybody and you get along with everybody."
Younkin finished 123-6 in his high school career at Oakley, including four trips to the state finals and championships as sophomore, junior and senior. He was named Class 3-2-1A wrestler of the year as a senior. At Colby, he earned NJCAA All-American honors in 2005-06 with a sixth place finish. Younkin moved to Wichita State, where wrestling is a club sport and not a sanctioned varsity team. He finished sixth in the nation at club nationals. He returned to Fort Hays with two years of eligibility, but originally decided to wrestle just one season. Five Tigers made the national tournament last spring but Younkin wasn't one of them. Younkin, though, did earned the team's Tiger Award as the most dedicated wrestler and picked all-conference academic team honors.
"I felt like I was going to stay because I was pretty bitter on how I ended out last year and I just felt that I could do a lot better than what I did," Younkin said. "It just took me a little bit to get over that."
In the spring, Thompson talked with Younkin and wanted to see the senior return for another year.
"He wanted to be part of something special," Thompson said. "...He doesn't want to walk away from the sport of wrestling without being an All-American. That is something that drives him. He wants to do it one more time."
Thompson needed to know Younkin's decision soon because of Younkin's wrestling scholarship - "he does hold a chunk of it," Thompson said. In the spring, Younkin told Thompson he would return for 2009-10. Younkin is taking biochemistry, the one class he needed to get into the doctorate program. Plus, he is working on a minor in business. He will head to Kansas City next school year.
"He gave me the answer I was hoping for," Thompson said. "Either way, I would have been happy and proud of him because he has been a team leader and works his butt off for our team. But he came back with the answer that he did want to come back and be part of this team."
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| 2/18 | SW Baptist | L 66-53 | |
| 12/1 | Oklahoma - Panhandle | L 66-60 (OT) | |