The Collegio Pittsburg's student voice since 1916
Related Articles
The athlete of the week is Levi Wyrick, senior in physical education and a member of the football and track and field team.
Wyrick has 47 career tackles with 8.5 tackles-for-loss and 3.5 quarterback sack.
In 2018, Wyrick participated in all 11 games and started in three of those. He made 28 tackles, 14 of which were solo tackles. He had 6.0 tackles-for-loss and 2.5 quarterback sacks. In 2017, Wyrick again played in all 12 games and started in nine of them. He made 19 total tackles, 13 solo, with 2.5 tackles-for-loss and 1.0 quarterback sack. From 2015-2016, Wyrick did not play in any of the football games in 2016 after redshirting in his initial season in 2015.
In track and field, Wyrick earned All-American honors with his sixth-place finish in the hammer throw at the 2019 NCAA Division-II Outdoor National Championships. Wyrick was also a national qualifier in the indoor weight throw. He is ranked second all-time at PSU in the weight throw at 65 feet and 11 inches and in the hammer throw at 210 feet and 6 inches.
In high school, Wyrick was a three-time Kansas Class 3A All-State performer (2012-2014). He was also a three-time All-State honoree at defensive end and a two-time All-State selection at quarterback. He was a two-time Class 3A state champion in the discus as well.
At Pitt State, Wyrick is a four-year member of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll, an MIAA Scholar Athlete, and a recipient of the MIAA Academic Excellence Award. He earned the NCAA Elite 90 Award for men’s outdoor track and field in 2018 and men’s indoor track and field in 2019. He also earned the 2018-2019 Ken B. Jones Award as the MIAA Male Student Athlete of the Year. He is a three-time Google Cloud Academic All-American in football and track and field.
Wyrick has been playing football since the third grade and is now the defensive end for the Pitt State football team.
“… It makes you work hard mentally and physically, and it challenges you,” Wyrick said. “I really love the challenge football presents.”
While he juggles two sports and school, Wyrick is able to handle it. He excels in football and track and field while also maintaining a 4.0 GPA as a physical education major at PSU. Like many other athletes, Wyrick says managing your time is an importance part to balancing school and, not only one, but two sports.
“It’s a lot of time management,” Wyrick said. “I think the biggest thing is you have to be willing sacrifice time doing other things like going out or watching TV or something… There’s a lot of time commitment in both sports and school. So, you have to sacrifice your time.”
According to Wyrick, his biggest supporters are his parents.
“(My biggest supporters have) definitely (been) my parents,” Wyrick said. “They’ve been following me around since third grade watching all my stuff. My dad was my coach in high school too.”
