HOMEGROWN REPORT
Lee makes believers at Cornell
By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawai'i seems like a pretty exotic place to most people in Ithaca, northwestern New York. They don't envision our islands as a breeding ground for national caliber athletes.
So when Rob Koll, head wrestling coach at the Ivy League's Cornell University in Ithaca, received an inquiry from Travis Lee of St. Louis School two years ago, he was unimpressed with Lee's state championships and gaudy won-lost record.
Travis Lee is majoring in biological engineering at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
"Send me tape," Koll instructed Lee.
"As the tape progressed, he got better and better," Koll said yesterday. "I said, 'Oh my God, this kid's got an unbelievable intensity.' "
After Lee earned double All-America ratings at the 2000 USA Wrestling Junior Nationals, Koll intensified his recruiting. "I had to stay up to 3 or 4 in the morning to phone him when he got home from his workouts because of the time difference," Koll said.
It has been worth it.
Lee, an A-minus student at St. Louis, accepted an academic scholarship to study biological engineering at Cornell and has been the sensation of the wrestling season.
He was named Most Outstanding Wrestler at the New York State Championships Jan. 19 and —10 weeks into his freshman season — Lee is ranked 16th in the NCAA Division I 125-pound class by the Amateur Wrestling News.
His record is 20-6 with three tournament championships and two second places. Two losses, at the prestigious Lone Star Duals in Dallas, Texas, were to fourth-ranked Jason Powell of Nebraska, 6-5, and third-ranked Matt Ridings of Oklahoma, 8-6.
Lee beat Hofstra's Tom Noto, ranked 10th when Lee first faced him, twice in seven days. On Saturday, he'll face No. 8 Mason Lenhard of Pennsylvania.
"He's got work ethic like I've never seen," Koll said. "We had an awfully tough practice on Monday. When we finished, everyone else was lying on their backs, heaving. Travis pops up and says, 'OK, coach, let's do some hand fighting (another drill).' "
While Cornell wrestling information officer Craig Sachson said Lee can turn a situation on the mat to his advantage "in the blink of an eye," Koll said it is neither technique nor speed that sets Lee apart.
"It's his determination and intensity," Koll said. "That's something you can't teach. It has to come from within."
"You never expect a freshman to step up and do what he does," Koll said. Lee, who is 18, "still has a lot of maturing to do," Koll said. "When that happens, God help the people who have to wrestle him.
"He has the ability to go to the international level."
Lee, who visited New York City for the first time during winter break, still comes across as exotic at Cornell.
"He ate sushi for his pre-match meal," Koll said. "I thought that was kind of bizarre."
PINS: Cornell coach Rob Koll says Travis Lee's biological engineering major is "as tough as it sounds." Lee scored a 2.8 (B-minus) average in his first semester. ... After Lee won both the freestyle and Greco-Roman style championships at the Junior Nationals last July, winning 22 matches in seven days, college coaches swarmed around him offering athletic scholarships, but he stuck with his commitment to Cornell. So far, only the weather has bothered him. "It's unusually warm this year," Koll said, "but we're not letting him know that." ... Lee recognizes that his journey is just beginning. "I still have a lot to work on. I have to work on fine tuning my moves and minimize my mistakes," he said. ... Lee started in judo at age 5 and took up wrestling at 13. ... At St. Louis he won three state championships and his last 112 matches. ... Lee was selected to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in May and was invited to practice at the Olympic Training Center in July. ... His career record is 248-25.
