By April-Joy McCann
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Despite this being her first year in the sport, Junior Angela Lee has proven herself by winning the 2013 State Wrestling Championship. Although injured for most of the season, Lee rose to the challenge.
“In her first year of wrestling, sheís only had two losses. Sheís friendly, she always helps people, sheís a kind girl until you get her on the mat. She transforms into a tough wrestler, sheís smart and she shows that Trojan pride,” said wrestling head coach John Robison.
Her win at states, however, came only after she was able to overcome physical injuries she had sustained most of the season. “(Lee) only wrestled for one month the entire wrestling season due to injuries. As a result, she had to rely on her mixed martial arts (MMA) and pankration training and instincts to win the State Wrestling Championship,” explained her father pankration coach Ken Lee. Angela Lee added, “I actually wasnít going to wrestle in the state championship because I fractured by my collar bone, but I wanted to so bad so (my dad) said if I practiced that week I could and so I did. That taught me that sometimes you have to endure and push through it, but it will definitely be worth it in the end.”
Since the age of four, Angela Lee has been training in an ancient Greek form of martial arts known as pankration and later began training in MMA. This prior knowledge added to her success in wrestling. “It’s definitely helped me a lot, like I didnít go in there empty-handed, and since the styles are kind of different I could use some of the techniques I learned and apply them to wrestling and they wouldnít be really familiar with it so I kind of had an edge,” expressed Angela Lee.
Additionally, Angela Lee never let anything stand in her way of accomplishing her goals. “Angela (Lee) is a good example and role model for young female athletes,” said Ken Lee. “She never used an injury as a reason for a loss or not training. She always believed she could do her best in anything she put her mind to,” added Robison.
Angela Lee hopes to defend her title as state wrestling champion next year.
