Colony senior to join older brother in Division I wrestling program

PALMER — Levi and Caleb Hopkins are part of a tight-knit family, a commercial fishing and wrestling family.

The Hopkins brothers spent three years together as part of the Colony High School wrestling program. Now, Levi and Caleb are part of the same wrestling team once again. Levi, a CHS senior, has signed his National Letter of Intent to attend Campbell University in Blues Creek, North Carolina. Levi will join Caleb, a 2018 graduate of CHS, on the Campbell Division I wrestling roster.

Levi said it wasn’t necessarily the immediate plan to follow Caleb to Campbell, but it worked out that way.

“Caleb told them about me. They saw some of my matches in Reno. They really liked me and wanted to have me come down for a visit,” Levi said during a ceremony at Colony High Monday afternoon. “I went down for a visit and really liked it.”

Levi earned a state title at 120 pounds as a freshman. He followed with a runner-up finish as a sophomore. After missing his junior year due to a knee injury, he bounced back to record another runner-up finish as a senior in December of 2018. The three-time state finalist has also enjoyed tremendous success recently in tournaments outside. Levi finished second in his weight class during the Reno Tournament of Champions, one of the most noted high school events in the western United States. He also won his weight class in both folkstyle and Greco-Roman and was fourth in freestyle during the Western Regionals in Las Vegas, Nevada, in late April. Levi said that success gave him confidence.

“I went down to Reno and I wasn’t expecting to do as well as I did,” Levi said. “It made me realize I can compete with anybody.”

Levi said his brother’s success as a freshman at Campbell also gave him confidence.

“Not many guys from Alaska do super well in college wrestling, especially Division I,” Levi said. “Seeing him do super well motivates me, reassures me of my skill. When Caleb went Division I it made me think I could be a Division I athlete.”

Levi and Caleb’s father, Todd, is the head coach of the Colony High program. Todd said he’s proud of seeing Levi have the chance to join the Campbell program and Caleb’s early success on the college mat.

“Caleb has been back a little bit. The growth in him as a person and a wrestler, and his ability is pretty exciting,” Todd said.

Todd said he’s also proud of Levi’s recent success.

“He did really well. He held his own,” Todd said.

Caleb, who earned an Alaska state title as a senior in college, is coming off a successful freshman year in college.

“It went really well. I had a winning record, got some wins over guys that coming out of high school were bigger dudes than I was,” Caleb said

Caleb said there was work adjusting to life as a Division I athlete.

“It was a little bit shocking at first. Every day they put a workout up on the board. You read it, and you’re like you don’t know if I can do that. Sure enough, you make it through. Every day it gets a little bit harder, but all the sudden it just becomes the normal,” Caleb said.

Caleb said he’s excited about Levi joining him at Campbell.

“It’s cool. It’s something I thought about a little bit growing up, but I wasn’t quite sure if he’d follow me to North Carolina or not,” Caleb said. “I’m excited he’s going to be there. It’ll be good working with him.”

The Hopkins brothers will continue a bond built during years on the mat and the family’s commercial fishing boat based out of Bristol Bay.

“We’re pretty close,” Caleb said. “We commercial fish out of Bristol Bay, live in really, really small quarters. There are not a lot of other kids our age. We had to hang out a lot.”

Caleb said the brothers have been fishing with the family since they were about 6 years old.

“We were working side-by-side, sleeping in bunk beds,” Caleb said.

Levi is expected to compete at either 174 pounds or 184 at the college level. Caleb said his goal is to stick at 174. Levi said he’s open for either class.

“It’s a little nerve-racking they’re similar weights,” Todd said.

But they are all confident each will fall in the right spot.

The Hopkins family also has another wrestling standout in the family. Jared Hopkins will return to the Knights next season after consecutive runner-up finishes at the state tourney.

Contact Frontiersman managing editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.