ASSOCIATED PRESS
Travis Lee of Cornell moved up in weight but hasn't lost any of his effectiveness. He was the nation's top 125-pounder last year.
Cornell’s Lee
takes over higher
weight class
NCAA wrestling champion Travis Lee of Cornell moved up a weight class and has already displaced the two-time defending national champion as No. 1.
Lee, a 2001 Saint Louis School graduate from Liliha, was ranked No. 1 yesterday at 133 pounds by InterMat, one of the most authoritative Web sites on collegiate wrestling.
Lee won the NCAA Division I championship at 125 pounds as a sophomore last season, the biggest achievement ever by a college wrestler from Hawaii.
But he has become too muscular to remain at 125, Rob Koll, his coach at Cornell, said last night.
"He has gotten really very thick with muscle mass," Koll said. "He has zero percent body fat. If he were to try to go down to 125, all he would do is take off muscle. There is no fat to take."
Lee said last night that his goal was to "win a national title again, but I don't have feel for this weight class yet."
Lee was ranked No. 2 in InterMat's preseason rankings, behind Oklahoma State senior Johnny Thompson, who has won two straight NCAA titles at 133. But Thompson was downgraded after "he lost to an average freshman from Tennessee-Chattanooga," said InterMat's Tom Owens.
Lee, meanwhile, took two weeks off from contact to rest bruised ribs and says he "feels much better and ready to go" when Cornell opens its season this weekend in the 11-team Body Bar tournament that it hosts in Ithaca, N.Y.
"He's the best in the country," Koll said. "I don't expect anyone to challenge him in this tournament."
Sophomore Grant Nakamura (Baldwin '01) of Iowa State is ranked 10th at 125 pounds.
Women's Volleyball
Junior Holly Yamada (Farrington '01) of Denver's Regis U. has repeated as a first-team selection of coaches in the 14-team Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.She led Regis in kills (3.88 per game), was second in digs (3.24) and at 5-feet 6, even had 48 blocks (0.45 per game).
"She has tremendous athleticism," coach Frank Lavrisha said.
And "arguably the best hops in the conference," added sports information director Jeff Duggan. "I didn't see any player jump as high as Holly."
Yamada had highs of 19 kills with six errors in 61 swings in three games against Chadron State on Nov. 8.
Mesa State (Colo.) senior Rosa Masler (Maui '00 of Kihei) was chosen second-team All-Rocky Mountain as a right-side hitter. She had 2.94 kills, 3.14 digs and 0.99 blocks per game. Masler was first-team All-RMAC last season.
Mesa State freshman Lauren Powley (Seabury Hall '03) was second in the conference in blocks with 1.27 per game. Her 13 block assists against Colorado Springs were a single-match high for the conference.
Mesa State had a third starter from Hawaii in sophomore defensive specialist Kehau Regidor (Kauai '01 of Kalaheo). Masler and Yamada each had 17 double-doubles.
>> Loyola Marymount senior Kealani Kimball (Kamehameha '00 of Kaunakakai) has surpassed 1,000 kills for her career and is finishing it on a roll for the 16th-ranked Lions.
She had her strongest hitting weekend of the season with 31 kills Friday and Saturday. For the season, Kimball has 4.18 kills per game, 3.40 digs and 4.78 points, all among the top six in the West Coast Conference. She has had 16 double doubles.
Kimball and senior Robyn Kurasaki (Maryknoll '00) of St. John's (New York) were selected their respective Verizon/Co-SIDA district All-Academic teams. Kurasaki has a 3.83 grade point average as a psychology major.
>> Last year, Ka'ala Hanson (Kamehameha '00 of Hilo) played libero for Northwest Nazarene of Idaho and had a total of four blocks all season.
This season, Hanson was moved to middle blocker and led her team in blocks with 1.01 per game (and only 10 errors in 112 blocks).
Hanson, a senior, received honorable mention on the All-Great Northwest Conference team.
She was second on her team in kills per game (2.59), second in attack percentage (.244), second in digs (3.12 per game) and first in aces with 30.
She also earned All-Academic honors.
