Franklin Regional standout and current University of Iowa senior, Spencer Lee, has been named Big Ten Co-Wrestler of the Week, the conference office announced Tuesday. Lee shares the award with Minnesota’s Patrick McKee.
Lee, ranked No. 1 at 125 pounds, opened the 2021 season with a first-period fall against Nebraska’s 11th-ranked Liam Cronin. Lee led 6-0 before securing the fall in 1:21.
The pin was the 22nd of Lee’s career, his 17th in the first period. He improved to 19-0 all-time at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and extended his personal winning streak to 24 matches.
The weekly conference honor is the second of Lee’s career. He was previously recognized Jan. 23, 2018.
Lee and McKee, who is ranked 17th at 125 pounds, meet Friday at 8 p.m. when top-ranked Iowa visits No. 14 Minnesota. The dual is televised on BTN.
In addition to the Lee-McKee match, fellow WPIAL and Franklin Regional star, Michael Kemerer, currently No. 1 at 174 pounds, should make his season debut in a ranked-vs-ranked matchup of his own Friday night. Should the starters for both teams get the nod, Kemerer will face Gophers’ junior, Jake Allar, who is No. 16 in the latest FloWrestling and Trackwrestling rankings.
The dual meet has the potential to see a battle of ranked opponents in as many as nine of the 10 bouts.
MORE BOUTS OFF
For the second time in three weeks, Lehigh has had an event cancelled due to COVID-19-related issues within an opposing program.
On Jan. 2, Lehigh had its season-opening match with Hofstra has been canceled due to a positive COVID-19 test result among a member of Hofstra’s Tier 1 personnel. The match is not likely to be rescheduled.
Tuesday, it was announced that that Lehigh’s upcoming wrestling match versus Drexel, scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 24 at Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall has been canceled. The cancellation comes as a result of Drexel’s return to campus and resocialization guidelines, which will not afford Drexel sufficient training time in order to compete on Sunday.
Lehigh’s latest cancellation comes less than a week after No. 3 Penn State paused all team-related activities due to positive COVID-19 results among Tier 1 personnel. Due to the aforementioned pause, the Nittany Lions’ match at Rutgers scheduled for Saturday Jan. 16 was postponed.
In Penn State’s case, both institutions will work with the Big Ten Conference to identify rescheduling options. No determination has been made on how the pause may impact scheduled matches beyond January 16. However, it appears that the Lehigh versus Drexel matchup will be cancelled as opposed to rescheduled.
GETTYSBURG’S DELAWDER SETS NEW STATE WINS RECORDS, COMITTS TO KING UNIVERSITY
Gettysburg High School senior Montana DeLawder and the rest of her Warriors teammates, had a solid showing at the Gettysburg Duals over the weekend. The team went a perfect 5-0 in its home gymnasium.
However, it was DeLawder who had the historic day on Saturday, winning four matches, which brings her career total to 73 wins (and counting). With that, DeLawder becomes the winningest female wrestler in Pennsylvania high school wrestling history.
DeLawder also made it official that she will be continuing both her academic and athletic careers at King University in Bristol, Tennessee.
