You could say Vinny Levin was a little hot about not making it out of districts last year as a junior. Those losses helped fuel his desire in the offseason, and the Ocean City senior has started out this season on fire, winning a pair of tournaments and jumping out to a 10-0 record at 152 pounds. Levin captured the Gator tournament title at Gateway Regional High School, then was fairly dominant right after Christmas when he cruised to the 152-pound crown at the Arthur O. Marinelli Tournament at Egg Harbor Township High School. “It means a lot. It was such a tough tournament,” Levin said. “If you would have told me my freshman year that I would win it my senior year, I would have looked at you funny. I thought there was no way, but I’ve worked hard and now I’m achieving things.” 
Ocean City 152-pounder Vinny Levin works a move on Clearview’s Henry Eisenhart during the championship bout at the Arthur O. Marinelli Tournament in late december. Levin won the title with a 13-7 victory. (Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan) Levin jumped out to a 7-2 lead on Clearview’s Henry Eisenhart in the championship bout at the Marinelli tournament, then continued to pile up points as he cruised to a 13-7 win. “I was expecting to do well because I work harder than a lot of people. It’s just nonstop, no offseason. You just have to work hard, and I expected to be a lot better and make improvements from last year,” Levin said. “Last season, I started off kind of slow, but this year I came out and I knew I had a shot. I came out and won the Gator tournament, and that was pretty good, and I just kept rolling on from there. I just try to take it one match at a time.” Levin said it took a few days to sink in that he had won the tournament. Right after the match, all he could think about was getting something to drink. “It feels good, but right then I’m just exhausted and want to go sit down and get something to drink, get a Gatorade or a water or something,” Levin said. Levin finished sixth at the Marinelli a year ago, and his best finish came during his freshman year, when he took second in the junior varsity portion of the tournament. He said his coach, Dave Castellini, in typical Castellini fashion, didn’t offer a whole lot of advice prior to the championship bout against Eisenhart. “He just let me go out there and wrestle my match. He said, ‘you know what? You can beat this guy. You’ll be fine, just go out there and wrestle your match.’ And I did,” Levin said.
— Dave O’Sullivan
