Travis Lee (Photo/Danielle Hobeika)
Born in Honolulu, Travis Lee became only the second two-time NCAA wrestling champion in the long history of the sport at Cornell, and the first Hawaii native to win an NCAA mat title. In addition, Lee became the first Ivy League wrestler to earn NCAA All-American honors four times, winning national titles in 2003 and 2005 at 125 pounds and 133, respectively. In addition, Lee won Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) titles all four years and was named that tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler twice. He posted an unbeaten season en route to a national title at 125 pounds as a sophomore, and then recorded a 37-1 record as a senior, avenging his only loss of the year in the NCAA finals at 133 pounds to capture the 2005 title. Lee graduated with a bachelor's degree in biological and environmental engineering from Cornell in 2005, and gained a master's in engineering from his college alma mater in 2006.
Since its founding in 1978, 31 Big Red wrestlers have been inducted into Cornell University Athletics Hall of Fame prior to this year. Among the past honorees: Dave Auble, Frank Bettuccci (who was welcomed into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame last month), Dave Dunlap, Steve Friedman, and Clint Wattenberg.
In addition to Lee, other members of the Class of 2015 include fellow NCAA All-Americans Erica Holveck (women's lacrosse), and Lauren May (softball), along with Ka'Ron Barnes (men's basketball), Dick Blood (softball coach), Jessica Brown (women's track and field), Shonda Brown (women's track and field), Lou Duesing (women's track and field coach), Colin Farrell (men's lightweight rowing), Karen Force (women's basketball), and Pete Noyes (football coach).
Lee and the other members of the Class of 2015 will be inducted in 38th annual ceremonies to be held Friday, Sept. 18 on the Cornell campus. In addition to the formal induction ceremonies on Friday evening, the honorees will be recognized at halftime of the Cornell-Bucknell football game the following afternoon. After this year's class is inducted, the Cornell Athletics Hall of Fame will have 577 members.
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