Penn State Wrestling: NCAA Champ Nick Lee to Join Staff as Assistant Coach

Coach Cael Sanderson announces that Lee, a two-time national champ, will take a coaching role with the Nittany Lions.

Former Penn State wrestler Nick Lee will be an assistant coach for the Nittany Lions in 2024. / Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen /

Nick Lee, who won two NCAA titles and was Penn State wrestling's first five-time All-American, will join the Nittany Lions' staff as an assistant coach. Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson announced the news on the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club podcast, which was released May 17. Penn State wrestling officially announced Lee's hiring Monday.

"I'm really excited to work with Nick, and we're going to get him going just as soon as we possibly can," Sanderson told host Jeff Byers on the podcast (subscription required). "He's the guy, he's excited about the job, and we're excited to have him join our staff."

Lee, 26, will replace Jimmy Kennedy, the former Penn State assistant who joined David Taylor's staff at Oklahoma State as associate head coach. Lee went 119-13 in five seasons at Penn State, winning back-to-back NCAA titles at 141 pounds in 2021-22. Lee finished his Penn State career with a 27-match win streak, culminating his 22-0 senior year with a 10-3 win over Kizhan Clarke of North Carolina in the 2022 NCAA final.

RELATED: Penn State legend David Taylor takes over as Oklahoma State wrestling coach

Lee then turned to freestyle wrestling, qualifying for the 2023 World Championships and winning gold at the 2024 Pan-American Games. He made the 70 kg final at the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials in April, competing against Zain Retherford, his club teammate and former Penn State teammate. Retherford won the best-of-three series at the Trials and later qualified for the Summer Olympics at a last-chance qualifier in Istanbul. Lee traveled with Retherford to Turkey as a training partner.

"Nick Lee is a brother to me," Retherford said at the U.S. Olympic Trials in State College. "We were roommates his freshman year when he was an All-American [in 2018]. He's just a great human being. It's the unfortunate part of having six weight classes [in Olympic freestyle wrestling]. We butt heads. But nothing but love for Nick Lee. He'll always be a brother to me."

On the NLWC podcast, Sanderson discussed his decision to hire Lee.

"He has a knack for coaching," Sanderson said on the podcast. "He's really smart, he's really taken a vested interet in helping the people around him get better. Even at times when he's supposed to be training, he's trying to help others, so I think he's going to do an outstanding job. He gives us a younger mind who's going to see things differently and can add a lot to what we're doing as a staff."

#PennState Wrestling HC Cael Sanderson announces on the @NittanyLionWC pod that #PSU alum Nick Lee is the program's newest assistant coach.

👉 https://t.co/dPu4W69r0i pic.twitter.com/u3G2XR7TSh

— Happy Valley Insider (@PennStateRivals) May 17, 2024

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AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich.