Penn State wrestling has its senior day on Sunday when the Nittany Lions welcome Rider to Rec Hall for the final dual of the season.
But for head coach Cael Sanderson, senior day is a bit different.
"I'm not a big senior night guy," Sanderson said on Monday. "I think, to me, the nationals is kind of senior night to me. 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."
That's particularly true for 141-pound starter Nick Lee.
Lee is the lone member of the Nittany Lions' starting lineup, outside of transfer Drew Hildebrandt, who will have exhausted his NCAA eligibility. While both Roman Bravo-Young and Brady Berge have announced their intent to graduate and move on with their careers, only Lee has been around for five years with no option to return.
For Sanderson, Lee's reliability is something that has stood out.
"I think Nick has grown a lot. He's obviously continued to improve and get better," Sanderson said of his star senior. "But he's just been consistent, I would say, in his leadership. Just being a great human being and somebody that just has a great attitude."
Lee's story is a familiar one for Penn State wrestling fans. As a highly touted freshman in 2017-18, he impressed in redshirt action. So much so, even, that he was plugged into a Nittany Lions' lineup that desperately needed points at 141 pounds in a tight championship battle with Ohio State. After landing the No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament, he was thrown to his back and pinned in an upset loss in the opening round to Maryland's Ryan Diehl. Lee then battled back, winning five straight matches, including four against seeded wrestlers, on the way to a fifth-place finish that helped Penn State claim a national team title, just eight points ahead of the Buckeyes. Lee accounted for 11.5 points in the tournament.
From then on, he became a household name in college wrestling.
A strong sophomore campaign saw Lee enter the 2019 NCAA Tournament as the third season and roll to the semifinals before losing a narrow 4-3 match with Ohio State's Joey McKenna. A disappointing loss on the backside then saw Lee take fifth yet again.
With McKenna graduating and reigning champ Yianni Diakomihalis and Missouri star Jayden Eierman set to redshirt, Lee was considered by many as the national title favorite in 2020. He went undefeated in the regular season and was one of the top bonus point scorers in the nation. After a close 6-5 loss to another Buckeye, Luke Pletcher, in the Big Ten finals, Lee was set to enter the 2020 NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 seed.
That's when COVID hit, wiping Lee's junior season completely off the books.
He returned yet again as a favorite in 2021, especially with Diakomihals still out due to Cornell opting out of all athletics amid the pandemic. Eierman, however, was back in action and in familiar colors, having made the transfer to the University of Iowa. The newest Hawkeye standout got the best of Lee the first time around, taking home the Big Ten title at 141, but it was Lee who would prevail in sudden victory in St. Louis to claim his first NCAA champion.
Which brings us here.
Lee is currently the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the nation yet again at 141 pounds and claimed yet another overtime win over Eierman when the two met earlier this season. But with just a handful of matches left in his college career, the Evansville, Indiana native remains laser focused.
"I don't know if it's meant more, (but) it's definitely be a different atmosphere, for sure," Lee said of his last ride. "Being a senior on the team and one of the old guys and just kind of having a lot of younger guys on the team. So just being in that older guy position is a little bit different. But, you know, it's a wrestling season. So you've just got to continue to focus on the basics."
So Lee continues to march forward with a singular focus in mind, winning another national title. And he's as sure as anyone that he'll be able to do so.
"I hope it's good. I hope it's really good," Lee said of the team's confidence. "My confidence is great. I came in with really good teams...I got used to that...For me it's back to business as usual, which is a lot of fun."
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