Derrick LeVake was a man among boys on Warhawk football team

                                    (Adjacent photo courtesy of UW-Whitewater Athletics)

Brad Arnett and Derrick LeVake will represent UW-Whitewater football when the duo joins seven others to be inducted as the class of 2013 into the UW-Whitewater Athletics Hall of Fame. The 2013 induction ceremony will take place on Saturday evening in the Hamilton Room at the James R. Connor. The inductees will also be honored at halftime of the Whitewater and UW-Platteville football game Saturday afternoon, with kickoff at 1:00.

I did a profile on Arnett yesterday – today I feature LeVake.

LeVake was a cornerstone for two UW-W teams, excelling on the football field and on the mat. He played, and started, all four years in the Warhawk offensive line, earning second team all-conference honors as a freshman, and first team recognition his final three years including conference player of the year honors his senior season. In 1996, as a junior, he was named to four All-America teams, including the American Football Coaches Association Division III First Team. His senior year he was tabbed a first team All-American by all four organizations that followed Division III football. In 1997 he became the first offensive lineman named WIAC Player of the Year. That same year he was a finalist for the Melberger Award, given to the top Division III player in the country, the first offensive lineman ever, and a finalist for the Gagliardi Trophy, given to an outstanding Division III player that represents the student-athlete ideal. LeVake helped UW-W win WIAC football championships in 1994 and 1997, with the '97 team advancing to the NCAA III playoffs. Though he wrestled just two years for UW-W, LeVake also made his mark there, placing second in the WIAC championship and then seventh in the NCAA III tournament to earn All-America honors. He came back for his junior season, went 23-5, again finished second in the WIAC and repeated his All-America recognition with a fifth place finish. He did not wrestle his senior year, preparing for professional football, where signed a free agent contract with Cincinnati in 1998 and Miami in 1999.

LeVake, a West Allis/Central product, graduated from UW-W with a business management major in 1998. He is the chief executive officer, president and owner of Investigative Risk Management in Englewood, Colorado and lives in Aurora.

There is an often used phrase in men’s sports, “he’s a man playing among boys.” LeVake is the “poster child” of that saying.

Prior to attending UW-Whitewater the West Allis native served as a member of the U.S. Army Rangers who execute special operations and light infantry missions requiring a mature, competent, highly disciplined, and lethal force to ensure the precise application of combat power in politically sensitive environments.

Gary D’Amoto of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel wrote a fascinating profile on LeVake back in May of 1998. To read the article CLICK HERE