If it's true that all good things come in threes, then the Lee brothers are no exception.
Consistency has never been an issue for Nick Lee, who earned back-to-back fifth-place finishes at the NCAA Championships his freshman and sophomore year. Although his laser-focused attitude rarely shifts as he looks ahead to March, the two things that mean more than the roar of the crowd and another All-American finish are his two brothers: Joe and Matt Lee.
The Lee brothers have come a long way from southern Indiana where they rose to success at Mater Dei High School. Nick won the state championship in 2015. Joe was a state runner-up as a freshman, then took back-to-back state titles his sophomore and junior year. Matt finished off a junior year season with a 41-0 record and a state title.
But the Lee family wasn't always so well-known in the wrestling community.
"I was the first in my family to wrestle. Everyone used to get really excited about it because it was so unfamiliar," Lee said. "But when my two brothers started wrestling, it turned it into a family affair. Now everyone goes to wrestling matches, so it's a big part of our lives, obviously."
When they weren't winning state championships and training with Penn State, the brothers said they prefer to do their bonding outside the gym.
"My dad was in the military and had three boys, so growing up was pretty strict, but we made it fun," the 141-pounder said. "We play video games, hang outdoors a lot and I'll cook us dinner every once in a while. No matter what we do, it's always fun to hang out."
From hiking and fishing to shooting clay pigeons, Lee found his passion for the outdoors as an escape from tedious academics and tough wrestling schedules where he's often traveling on the road.
"It's not easy to manage, but I enjoy the wrestling part so that makes it better," Lee said. "Traveling isn't fun for me. Obviously, I prefer to wrestle at Rec Hall, but communicating with classmates and professors is the key to managing it all."
Lee is undefeated so far this season, with a pin against Navy's Cody Trybus, a tech fall over Arizona State's Cory Crooks and a first-place finish in the Army West Point Invite. He heads into the Lehigh match as a strong contender to earn more points for the team.
Lee attributes this consistency to his military upbringing.
"I think my work ethic comes from the way I was raised. The joke is that I only have two speeds: zero and 100 percent," Lee said. "Knowing that there's no other alternative if you're going to be doing something as demanding as this forces you to give your 100 percent. There's no halfway in college sports."
Following his brother from Evansville to Happy Valley, freshman Joe Lee joined the Nittany Lions this year as a redshirt freshman in what will be his second-year training alongside Nick.
"(Joe's) bigger than me, but still my little brother. I boss him around a little bit, but I think it's gotten to a point now where we're still helping each other out in a lot of ways," Lee said. "It's nice to have my family on campus as well because its someone I can always talk to. It's a friend, so I love having him here."
The youngest of the three, Matt, chose to forgo his senior season at Mater Dei High School and graduated early to practice and get experience with Penn State wrestling.
"I just hope [Matt] finds fulfilment in the sport like I have," Lee said. "And I hope he has fun and is successful, but I know he'll be successful if he enjoys what he's doing."
Having his two younger brothers closer to Penn State allows Lee to focus on things outside of his two-time All-American repertoire. Lee, a health policy and administration major, said he spends a lot of time on academics. He said he enjoys reading about health insure policies and wants to pursue a future career in hospital administration or long-term care.
"I think it's interesting to me because it's not interesting to other people," Lee said. "It's a niche form of knowledge that I want to get into. I like to read the dry, nerdy stuff that most people would skip over."
With all of the time he put into finding his consistency with both wrestling and academics, Lee has taken on a major leadership role for his junior season with the Nittany Lions.
"Setting a good example and leading by example are the most important things," Lee said. "The younger guys, I've found, generally do what you do rather than what you say. So, I think it's important to lead by example and just be there to answer any questions they might have along the way."
