Freshman All-American Nick Lee was key in helping Penn State win national title

EVANSVILLE — Nick Lee took the scenic route to earning his status as an All-American.

His fifth-place finish during last weekend’s NCAA Wrestling Championships in Cleveland, Ohio, also might have been the difference between Penn State winning or losing another national title.

Lee, a true freshman and former Mater Dei High School state champion, was pinned during his opening-round match. One of his teammates lost in the first round, too.

They were sent to the wrestlebacks and Penn State had fallen behind by double-digits on its quest to win its seventh championship in eight years.

“I got put in a position where he was better than me and he caught me there,” Lee said. “Kudos to him — that was a good move. But after that, you have to rebound and can’t dwell on it. Your team needs you to score points.”

After Lee and his teammate, Corey Keener, were both pinned, the Nittany Lions went 39-7 to clinch their third consecutive team championship. They took first with 141.5 points to edge past Ohio State (133.5).

Lee said, as cliché as it sounds, they simply focused on each upcoming match to help the team score points.

As the eighth seed in the 141-pound weight class, he knocked off three seeded wrestlers to win five straight consolation matches. He ended the year with a 32-7 record and led the team in wins, technical falls and major decisions.

“Obviously, it’s harder and you have to win more matches, but when you talk about seeding and stuff, it doesn’t matter,” Lee said. “You have to wrestle them all anyway. I wouldn’t trade the eight matches I wrestled for anything.”

“March Matness” doesn’t receive as much mainstream hype or attention as postseason basketball tournaments, but the atmosphere and energy aren’t comparable. Although Lee wrestled in front of 10,000-plus fans for IHSAA state championships, Cleveland had nearly double that many to become the largest NCAA Championships crowd ever.

Lee, who had been before as a spectator, said he’s never had more fun wrestling than he did last weekend.

“The most surreal part is my first year is already out of the way,” Lee said. “It’s going by really, really fast. The fact I’m already one year through my college career is crazy.”

MORE:Lee brothers cementing Mater Dei wrestling legacy

He chose to forego his senior season at Mater Dei to start training with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club a year early. (His younger brother Joe is currently doing the same thing before he’ll be a freshman next year at Penn State.)

That hard work paid off, he said. Penn State removed his redshirt on Jan. 5 and he won 12 of his first 14 matches.

“I probably learned more in a year here than a lot of people do in their whole lifetime wrestling, which is crazy,” Lee said. “I didn’t realize there was that much to learn. It’s been a wakeup call in a lot of areas.”

PREVIOUSLY:Redshirt removed, true freshman Nick Lee thriving for No. 1 Penn State

The Nittany Lions win championships, so “that’s what we do” is the unofficial team motto. Winning is expected even if others throughout the country train just as hard. But they also don’t take themselves too seriously.

Lee lost in the state finals as a junior and while he never stopped wrestling individually, he didn’t represent a school again until recently. He said his attitude changed more than anything during his hiatus.

“Wrestling is not stressful and it’s not who I am, it’s what I do. It’s a lot of fun and I love it,” Lee said. “I haven’t felt as much joy in the sport than I am right now. My favorite part of the day is wrestling practice.”

He said he won’t take much of a break in training and foresees remaining at 141 pounds moving forward. As fun as it was to take fifth place, he wants more.

“We’re going to repeat next year,” Lee said. “That’s the plan, that’s the job. We won this year, but now we’re 0-0 for the 2018-19 season and have to take the same attitude into the next year and get ready to win again.”