|
R
ecite the household names in Penn
State's wrestling lineup, and off the
top of your head most likely come
Hall, Joseph and Cassar.
If Mark Hall, Vincenzo Joseph and An-
thony Cassar are No. 1 (which they are,
actually), then Nick Lee is No. 1-A (which
he is, actually, if 1-A means he's ranked
No. 2).
Call Lee a lot of things – good guy, good
big brother, (very) good wrestler – but not
an NCAA champion. Not yet, anyway, for
the junior 141-pound starter who is a
two-time All-American with a 71-11 ca-
reer record. But this year, well… good
chance.
Lee, who has placed fifth in each of his
two appearances at the NCAA champi-
onships, has been involved in matches
against the likes of star wrestlers named
McKenna and Demas and Diakomihalis
and Eierman, Alber, Carr, McKee and
Storr. He's won some and lost some, but
this season he's out to climb significantly
higher on the NCAA ladder.
"I lose more than I want to. But, yeah,
losing is your best opportunity to learn
and prove yourself," Lee said. "I think I
take lessons from those losses and then
build on them, like you're building a
house, so those losses provide motivation
and you have something to build off of."
He says he's constantly working to get
W R E S T L I N G
PROGRESS REPORT
Second-ranked Nick Lee hopes to parlay his o-season gains into an NCAA crown
NICK OF TIME
Lee has earned
bonus points in
58 of his 71 career
bouts with the
Nittany Lions.
Photo by Steve
Manuel
