Everybody up, everybody down - the entirety of Canada’s university wrestling ranks couldn’t stop Hunter and Carson Lee from national supremacy. Both brothers were crowned national champions in their weight class Feb. 22 at USports nationals.
This year’s USports Championship took place Feb. 21-22 at Brock University in St. Catherines, Ont. Both Brock and the Lees’ own Univ. of Saskatchewan Huskies entered the tournament with not only a chance to win multiple weight classes, but legit shots at winning both the men’s and women’s team titles.
For the 82-kilogram and the 90-kilogram divisions - the ones Carson and Hunter would wrestle in respectively - the weight classes were split into two four-wrestler pools, with the highest finisher from each pool advancing to the national final.
Hunter came into the tournament ranked first in his division, taking out Julien Choquette from Concordia, McMaster’s Brad MaGarrey and Alberta Golden Bear Taran Goring by a combined total of 31 points to four.
That strong pool round performance put Hunter in the national title bout with University of the Fraser Valley’s Karan Dhillon. Hunter had beaten Dhillon twice earlier this year, both at the Cascade Invitational tournament at the CanadaWest championship tournament mere days before.
The third time would not be the charm for Dhillon, as he took his third L of the year against Hunter. Flin Flon’s own finished the match before full time, ending with a 11-0 victory.
Carson, a freshman wrestling in his first-ever USports nationals, entered the event as the top 82-kilogram wrestler in the country. In his pool, Lee defeated Lakehead’s Brody Evans 14-4, Tejvir Boal from Brock 14-4 and Connor Pointen from the University of Calgary 10-0. Finishing undefeated punched Carson’s ticket to the national final and a date against McMaster’s Ameen Aghamirian.
In Carson’s toughest test at the tournament yet, the bout went the Flin Flonner’s way, ending with a 7-1 win and with Carson earning the national championship in his weight division.
While both Lees won their groups, the Huskies were unable to top hosts Brock in the men’s team rankings, finishing second at nationals to the Badgers. The Badgers finished first in the men’s ranking with 76 points, ahead of the Huskies’ 54. Brock also won the women’s team ranking with 55 points compared to second-place Saskatchewan’s 42.
