Marcus LeVesseur

Marcus LeVesseur (born July 17, 1982) is an American mixed martial arts fighter. He is currently a promotional free agent and fights as a lightweight. In college, LeVesseur was undefeated and untied, with a record of 155–0. He won four NCAA Division III individual national titles, and was a member of two teams that won national championships. In high school he won four Minnesota state wrestling championship titles. Since his last loss in high school competition LeVesseur compiled an amateur wrestling record of 296–0 through his senior year at Augsburg.

Biography
He is a 4-time Wrestling National Champion (2003–05, 2007) for Augsburg College and a 4-time Minnesota State High School Wrestling Champion (1998–2001) for Roosevelt High School (Minneapolis) and Bloomington Kennedy High School. LeVesseur was the first Division III wrestler win four national titles. He is only the second college wrestler ever to finish his career unbeaten and untied, with a 155-0 career record (Cael Sanderson was the first with a 159-0).

141 match unbeaten streak in to end high school. 296-0 with college record.

High school career
In high school LeVesseur defeated future Olympian Ben Askren 13–4 in the title match of the Bi-State Tournament in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Askren would later become a two-time runner-up and a two-time champion in Division I.

LeVesseur earned four state high school titles — at Minneapolis Roosevelt HS in 1998, 1999 and 2000 and at Bloomington Kennedy HS in 2001. He ended his high school career with a 212-17, including 141 straight victories. He was named Minnesota's "Mr. Wrestler" his senior season and was rated the number two-ranked recruit in all weight classes in InterMat's 2000-01 Top 200 Recruit Rankings. He earned All-City and All-Conference honors six times, All-County honors three times and All-State and All-America four times.

College career
LeVesseur began his college career at Div. I University of Minnesota where he compiled a 10-0 record during the 2001–02 season at 149 pounds. He was not able to start at either 149 or 157 lbs., senior starters Jared Lawrence and Luke Becker both won NCAA titles that season at 149 and 157 pounds, respectively.

At the 2001 Bison Open on October 10, LeVesseur earned two bonus-point victories: a 1:25 first-period fall of Jamestown College's Jay McDepee and later a 14–5 major decision over Jamestown's James Meland. He later shared the 149-pound tournament title with fellow Minnesota wrestler Jared Lawrence.

2002–03 season
LeVesseur transferred to Augsburg at the beginning of the the 2002–03 school year and having used one semester of eligibility at Minnesota, wrestled as an independent. He was named co-champion of the 157-pound weight class at the Auggie-Brute-Adidas Wrestling Open in November. LeVesseur debuted for Augsburg on January 7, 2003 against Div. II Augustana (S.D.) and won via a 38-second pin of Ben Caven. LeVesseur also debuted at no. 4 in Division III individual rankings.

At the National Duals on January 19, he earned a 8-3 a over top-ranked Kevin Bratland (Wartburg). The next week, the was ranked the top wrestler at 157 lbs., a spot he did not relinquish during his competitive career. In the national championship match at 157 lbs., LeVesseur earned is first national title with a 4–2 decision over Kevin Bratland (Wartburg).

2003–04 season
LeVesseur began the 2003–04 season by going 4-0 to win his weight class at the Concordia-Moorhead Cobber Open on November 22, 2003. On December 13, LeVesseur earned Most Valuable Wrestler honors at the St. Cloud State Invitational tournament. LeVesseur went 3-0, winning the first two matches by technical fall and a pin. In the championship match at 157, LeVesseur pinned North Dakota State University's Paul Carlson at the 1:23 of the first period. Carlson was the Division II defending national champion and then ranked number 1 in Div. II at 157 lbs. On December 29, LeVesseur defeated Division I opponent Mike Carbonaro (Naval Academy) in a 11-2 major decision at the Orange Bowl Sunshine Open. LeVesseur recorded two pins earlier in the competition was named Outstanding Wrestler of Meet. The victory was his first known victory against a Div. I opponent while competing as a Div. III wrestler.

At the National Duals on January 18, 2004, LeVesseur recorded a pin and two major decisions, including one over No. 3-ranked Dustin Bliven (Wartburg) in the title dual. On January 27, LeVesseur earned another victory over NDSU's Paul Carlson, this time by 8-1 decision. In the national championship match at 157 lbs., LeVesseur won by decision over Cory Connell (Wartburg) 8–4. LeVesseur finished the year with a 40-0 record.

In May 8, LeVesseur defeated five Division I opponents to claim the 74-kilogram (163-pound) title at the USA Wrestling University National Freestyle Championships. LeVesseur defeated two-time NCAA national qualifier Paul Siemon (Hofstra) and Keith Gavin (Pittsburgh) both by a score of 3-1. LeVesseur later defeated both the 165-pound Pacific-10 Conference and Big 12 Conference defending champions by beating Matthew Ellis (Oregon State) 6-1 and 2003 All-American Tyron Woodley (Missouri). In the title match, LeVesseur defeated Bryce Hasseman 4-2. Hasselman was the East Regional qualifier for the U.S. Olympics Trials earlier in the year.

With the victory at the National Freestyle Championships, LeVesseur qualified to represent the United states at the World University Wrestling Championship in Łódź, Poland. LeVesseur finished tenth, going 1-2 in the tournament. LeVesseur lost to Semen Semenov of Russia 7-3 and Fahrettin Ozata of Turkey 6-0 before defeating Micha Rom of Poland 3-2.

2004–05 season
LeVesseur began his junior season with 5 pins and a major decision. At the Minnesota State-Moorhead   Dragon Open, he pinned Div. II second-ranked Josh Jansen of MSU-Moorhead in 55 seconds. A week later, LeVesseur pinned Jansen again, this time in 18 seconds. The pin was part of a 4-0 weekend at the St. Cloud State Invitational tournement.

LeVesseur started 2005 with two wins over Div. I opponents at the Oregon Classic Duals. LeVesseur pinned T.J. Ferguson (Cal Poly) at 1:09 mark of the first period and earned an 8-3 decision over Tony Hook (Oregon State).

LeVesseur earned his 100th straight victory — equal to Dan Gable's record — with a 15-3 major-decision victory over Div. II wrestler Austin Scarset (Augustana) on January 11. Four days later LeVesseur surpassed Gable's streak with a 3:58-pin of Collin McKillip (Wisconsin-La   Crosse) at the Wisconsin-Oshkosh Dan Gable Open. At the tournament, he also recorded pins over Div. I opponent Jake Murphy (Purdue) at 3:49, Scott Fisher (Upper Iowa) at 1:45.

Gable earned his 100 consecutive victories over three seasons at Iowa State University and was second to Cael Sanderson (Iowa State University).

In the national championship match at 157 lbs., LeVesseur won by decision over Ryan LeBeau (Luther) 7–0.

2006–07 season
On January 23, 2007, LeVesseur scored a 3–2 decision over Minnesota State University, Moorhead's Nate Baker, the top-ranked wrestler in Division II. Three days later, LeVesseur earned a 4–1 decision over the new number-one ranked wrestler in Division II, Ross Taplin of University of Nebraska at Omaha.

In the national championship match at 165 lbs., LeVesseur won by decision over Michael Guenther (College of New Jersey) 3–0.

Mixed martial arts career
LeVesseur is currently competing in Mixed Martial Arts with 10-3-0 as of November 20, 2009.