Penn State wrestling’s Nick Lee, other seniors set for final dual in Rec Hall
Senior day is always a meaningful time in an athlete’s career — whether in high school or college.
On Sunday, Penn State will get to celebrate its senior wrestlers before taking on Rider inside Rec Hall at 2 p.m.
But coach Cael Sanderson mentioned the possibility of some others being honored too.
“We have more kids that will be moving on than you would think,” Sanderson told reporters on Monday. “There are kids that have have graduated and might be looking to move on in school or just move on in life.”
Although it is unknown who all will be honored, some wrestlers like Nick Lee and Drew Hildebrandt are certain to be part of that group, since they are considered super seniors due to the free year a season ago. Based on some comments made previously in the season, Roman Bravo-Young could be another wrestler seeing his last action inside Rec Hall for the Nittany Lions.
One thing is for sure — Sanderson isn’t ready to celebrate just yet.
“The nationals is kind of senior night to me,” he said, “like, let’s go make sure these guys have a chance to finish where they want to finish and be happy with what they’re doing. (Senior night) is cool and a great opportunity for people and fans in Rec Hall to see them one last time, but we got a lot left to focus on.”
Lee, who never redshirted during his time with Penn State, has the honor of saying he got to wear the Penn State singlet for five seasons. It is a feat not many others will have the ability to do.
However, the Evansville, Ind. native sounded just as focused as his coach.
“I don’t know if it’s meant more. It’s definitely been a different atmosphere,” Lee said on Monday, “being a senior on the team and one of the old guys, just having a lot of younger guys on the team. Being in that older guy position is a little bit different, but it’s a wrestling season, so you got to continue to focus on the basics.”
As one of the “old guys,” Lee has done nothing but improve his entire time with the Nittany Lions.
How could Lee not improve when he had the opportunity to train with wrestlers like Zain Retherford and Jason Nolf? Lee started as a true freshman for Penn State and went 32-7.
He finished fifth that year in the NCAA Championships after finishing third in the Big Ten Championships. In Lee’s sophomore campaign, he was 31-4, and again had the same finishes in the NCAA and Big Ten Championships.
Lee’s junior year had him go 20-1, with the loss coming in the Big Ten finals to Ohio State’s Luke Pletcher. Lee was slated to be the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Championships, which were later canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last season, Lee was 13-1, with the loss coming to Iowa’s Jaydin Eierman in the Big Ten finals. Lee avenged that loss in the NCAA finals when he topped Eierman, 4-2 in overtime.
Earlier this season, the senior claimed his 100th win when he topped Lehigh’s Connor McGonagle, 13-6. Lee will take on the lone ranked wrestler for Rider on Sunday in No. 25 Quinn Kinner, and shouldn’t have any problems picking up win No. 110.
So, what will Lee remember most from his time with Penn State?
“It has been a really good time. We’ve had a lot of competitive duals and stuff,” he said, “and a couple of national championships, so definitely successful. It flew by too fast.”
Lee was just as successful off the mat, too.
Sanderson has seen Lee’s leadership ability grow during his time with the Nittany Lions. He also wasn’t ready to hear that Sunday would be Lee’s last time competing inside Rec Hall, and reflected on what Lee has meant to Penn State’s program.
“He’s just been consistent, and his leadership, you know, he’s a great human being and has a great attitude,” Sanderson said. “There just aren’t a lot of Nick Lee-type people out there. He’s a unbelievable wrestler, but just a good dude and a great leader. Like I said, consistency, he’s the same person every day, first match of the year to last match of the year, nationals, practice, whatever, he’s consistent. To me, that’s greatness, and that’s what I think about when I think about Nick Lee.”
Rider (4-8) at No. 1 Penn State (16-0)
When: 2 p.m. Sunday
Where: Rec Hall, University Park, Pa.
Radio: WRSC (93.3 FM) or WQWK (103.7 FM)
Online: Radio, Lionvision at GoPSUsports.com; Online, Big Ten+ (paid subscription)
Twitter: @byncobler, @pennstatewrest
| Nittany Lions | vs. | Broncs |
| 125: No. 5 Drew Hildebrandt (7-1) | vs. | Tyler Klinksy (11-8) |
| 133: No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young (13-0) | vs. | Richie Koehler (16-6) |
| 141: No. 1 Nick Lee (13-0) | vs. | No. 25 Quinn Kinner (12-5) |
| 149: No. 19 Beau Bartlett (10-6) | vs. | Cole McComas (2-6) |
| 157: Terrell Barraclough (7-8) OR Tony Negron (5-5) | vs. | Alex Bobchin (5-13) |
| 165: No. 11 Brady Berge (3-1) OR Creighton Edsell (9-3) | vs. | Michael Wilson (11-11) |
| 174: No. 1 Carter Starocci (14-0) | vs. | Shane Reitsma (7-11) |
| 184: No. 1 Aaron Brooks (14-0) | vs. | Evan Vasquez (4-16) |
| 197: No. 1 Max Dean (14-1) | vs. | Azeem Bell (12-11) |
| 285: No. 5 Greg Kerkvliet (13-1) | vs. | David Szuba (14-9) |
