Cornell's Lee now 18-0 in wrestling
By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer
Cornell (N.Y.) sophomore Travis Lee (Saint Louis '01, of Liliha) added two more nationally ranked wrestlers to his victims' list last weekend at the Lone Star Duals near Dallas.
Lee went 4-0 in the 125-pound division, including victories over No. 3 Jason Powell of Nebraska, 5-3, and No. 11 Bo Maynes of Oklahoma, 5-2.
He won his other two matches by scores of 15-0 and 18-2, earning the meet's Division One lower-weight Most Outstanding Wrestler award.
Lee's season record is 18-0.
The victory over Powell dramatically demonstrated Lee's improvement from his All-America freshman season. Powell was 2-0 against Lee last season, the only wrestler Lee met more than once and did not defeat.
Lee moved up from No. 5 to No. 2 last week in national Division I rankings by W.I.N. magazine and The Wrestling Mall, a Web site. Another sophomore, Chris Fleeger of Purdue, is No. 1 in both.
The USA Wrestling rankings, the only ones by vote of coaches, are due next week.
MORE WRESTLING
• Harvard (Mass.)
Coach Jay Weiss, commenting on the commitment received this week from Saint Louis All-American Jonathan Spiker:
"I can't begin to tell you how excited we are to have Jonathan on board. I feel that someone of his stature comes along very few times to a program. Jonathan will excel in all aspects here at Harvard. We can't wait."
Harvard and Cornell are both in the Ivy League, but Travis Lee and Spiker wrestle in weight divisions 20 pounds apart.
• Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo
Riley Schmidtke of Mid-Pacific and Pac-Five, defending state 189-pound champion, has signed with Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo.
Schmidtke was 32-1 last season and has been even more dominating so far this season with a 9-0 record, including his second straight Maui Invitational championship, according to Pac-Five coach Keith Matsumoto.
"It's the best of both worlds for him, his first choice from an academic standpoint and they showed interest in him for wrestling," Matsumoto said.
BASKETBALL
• California-Santa Barbara
Her career-best 15 rebounds at Cal State-Fullerton Saturday vaulted sophomore Brandy Richardson (Kalaheo '01) into first place in Big West Conference rebounding.
Richardson also had 10 points in the 69-33 victory over the Titans for her third career double-double. Thirty-one of her 88 rebounds (35 percent) have been on the offensive boards.
UCSB (7-2) was No. 21 in yesterday's Associated Press and coaches' polls.
VOLLEYBALL
• Missouri-Kansas City
Seniors Noe Perreira (Waimea '99, of Kalaheo) and Char Wong (Kamehameha '99) were part of the only class in school history to qualify for the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament all four seasons.
Perreira, a 6-foot middle blocker, was chosen on the all-tournament team. She finished sixth on Missouri-Kansas City's career block assists list with 218 (0.83 per game).
Wong, a defensive specialist and occasional setter, finished 10th on the career aces list with 80. The most memorable stat for the 5-foot-1 Wong, however, might be the time in 2000 that she got a solo block.
• Frank Phillips (Texas) JC
While her sister Margaret was playing in the NCAA final four for Hawai'i, sophomore Litiana Vakasausau (University '01, of Kaimuki) was rehabilitating an anterior cruciate ligament, which was torn in the first match of the season.
"She will return for spring practice, play next fall, and graduate in December," coach David Rehr said. "Lots of Division I schools are looking at her, despite the knee injury."
• Azusa Pacific (Calif.)
Mahea "Mahi" Burgess (University '99, of Kaimuki), already the school's career assists leader, increased her record during her senior season to an almost untouchable 4,569 — nearly 2,000 ahead of the second-highest total.
She finished No. 2 in aces with 149, six below the school career record.
Burgess set Azusa Pacific's season assists record of 1,593 in 2000. Her career average was 9.9.
"My experience at Azusa Pacific has been amazing," Burgess said. "It has completely changed me as a person. I've grown so much as a person — spiritually and emotionally. It has made me come to appreciate Hawai'i even more."
SOCCER
• Puget Sound (Wash.)
Sophomore forward Sean Akamine (Punahou '01, of Kahalu'u) was a "super-sub" for the Northwest Conference champions, coach Reece Olney said. "We would sub him in about 20 minutes into every game and he would bring a lot of energy and lift the level of the game," Olney said.
Puget Sound went 17-4 and reached an NCAA Division III regional semifinal. "We were able to redshirt Marcus Asahina (Punahou '02 of Hawai'i Kai)," Olney said. "He has a bright future as a wide midfielder."
