Wrestling Nick Lee named new Assistant Coach
- Thread starter BrockBronson
- Start date
Mineo is about 50%, so he is batting his average.
If Nick gets his law degree while still coaching at PSU, maybe he can help out Cornell wrestling too. Great hire by Cael for sure, super happy for Nick.
Cael has made another great decision bringing Nick Lee on board as a coach. To me, this hire was going to be either Nick or Zain depending on their personal direction and interest. Since Zain seems pretty set on his Wall Street career, Nick was a no-brainer choice. He exudes the PSU Way, is incredibly humble, works so hard, and has been very successful at all levels.
Chop wood, carry water ... here comes Coach Lee
Chop wood, carry water ... here comes Coach Lee
Once you become dependent upon your lawyers, it makes it difficult to try your hardest.
Nice interview. I don’t think Cael could have hired a better assistant. Nick is extremely bright and it’s clear he brings the same mindset as Cael, Cody, Casey and Varner. A winning formula.
Nick really does check all the boxes; great wrestler, great person, articulate, measured in his speech, intelligent, and rumor has it, a great fan of Pawnee. I see a little Ron Swanson in him also. I'm thrilled he has joined the Penn State staff!
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Just to share because it deserves a shout out.
It's Jordan Conaway. According to Nick (and echoing what every other NLWC/PSU wrestler says) JC is one of the best technical teachers, scouters/adjusters and practice partners out there for both the new kids and senior level guys. There's a reason he was Gilman's go to partner.
Perhaps the biggest under the radar/unsung hero of PSU, he's never ever talked about but he is so essential to the team. Would bet almost anything DT offered JC a RTC deal in Stillwater. We're incredibly blessed to have JC here.
I think he's referring to this oft-recounted story of when Cael called the Conaway house to recruit Jordan.
Yep.
"Get off the phone with Nebraska, I have Cael Sanderson" is an all-time recruiting story.
One of my favorite Nick moves ever.
Bo Nickal's reaction in the background. 👍
Wanted to bump this .... a consistent theme in our lightweight wrestlers' interviews (Lilledahl, Van Ness, Bartlett) early on is how tremendous Nick is as a coach. Nick's wrestling ability and IQ is not some secret but a consistent thing mentioned also is the mentorship and guidance he provides them as non wrestlers. It sounds like he goes the extra mile for all his guys (little joke here about him being the young coach here and thus is most relatable to his wrestlers) Heck he was teammates with half of our starting lineup (Bartlett, SVN, Carter, Kerkvliet, Cochran)
It's no secret (and now no surprise) Cael didn't feel he had to look far for Kennedy's replacement, Nick was offered the job immediately.
Van Ness said something in his interview "Nick is my friend who became my coach but remains my friend"
It's no secret (and now no surprise) Cael didn't feel he had to look far for Kennedy's replacement, Nick was offered the job immediately.
Van Ness said something in his interview "Nick is my friend who became my coach but remains my friend"
Many Penn State wrestlers have had outstanding attitudes and yet Nick still managed to stand out. “Chop Wood; Carry Water” is up there with “It’s What We Do”.
Add to that being a master technician and you have the makings for an incredible coach. I think I once even posted that he was my choice to take over for Cael when the time comes.
Absolutely and hopefully that time is in the WAY distant future.
Only thing with Nick is wrestling is one of his many talents and maybe not even his greatest one. I know he wants to go to law school and he put that on hold to take this job.
Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life. (FWIW, I’ve worked everyday in mine.
)We just saw Zain postpone a Wall Street career. We’ll see how things work out with Nick. From what I’ve seen, he was born to mentor others.
Penn State had another coach that was accepted to the BU School of Law, but he too put off law school to be an assistant coach. Worked out okay for him.
I remember when we first mentioned him I looked up some of his matches. You tell right away this kid was special. One of my all time favorites. Always quiet and behind the scenes but dominant on the mat. That finals when he tripped eirmsn was so ****ing good I woke the entire neighborhood
i'd say at the scuffle when most of the entire team came out to watch his debut - they knew he was special
If I had to pick one word to describe most PSU wrestlers, it would be fearless. Not worrying about losing a match here and there but just getting better long term. That is Nick Lee to a tee. He progressed so much over 5 years. He took the coaching to heart and is now giving back the same.
He may end up being our next head coach in the distant future.
He may end up being our next head coach in the distant future.
Nick’s inside trip on Eierman in the NCAA finals is one of my all time favorite Penn State moments. I could just feel it coming. Eierman was starting to fade. You could see it when he was slow getting back for a restart. When Lee threw the under/ over and went chest to chest with him, I knew he was going to come out on top.
BTW, I got to meet his dad at the US Open one year. Super nice guy, but he gets really intense when any of his sons are competing. Watching him react to refs calls and such gives me a little perspective on why we shouldn’t be too hard on the other dads. They are all coming from the same place.
BTW, I got to meet his dad at the US Open one year. Super nice guy, but he gets really intense when any of his sons are competing. Watching him react to refs calls and such gives me a little perspective on why we shouldn’t be too hard on the other dads. They are all coming from the same place.
But how about wrestling mom’s and their glasses?
Wrestling moms are are and always have been crazier than soccer moms!
There are hockey moms but they are usually just mean. Lol
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