#ThrowbackThursday: Three-time World champion and 1980 Olympian Lee Kemp
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Action image of Lee Kemp, courtesy of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame
When you speak about greatness and wrestling, Lee Kemp needs to be in every conversation.
The number three comes to mind when talking about Lee Kemp. Three World freestyle titles. Three NCAA titles. But when you think about Lee Kemp, you also have to mention the 1980 U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympic Games, which robbed Kemp of a chance of achieving the sport’s highest honor, an Olympic gold medal.
He was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member in 1990. He was also inducted into the UWW International Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2008.
He was a trailblazer. He was the first African-American to win three NCAA titles. When he won his first World title in 1978, coming right out of college, Kemp was the youngest American World champion at that time at the age of 21 years, 8 months. He was the first U.S. wrestler to win three career World titles.
Click here for Lee Kemp’s Hall of Fame bio
A late bloomer, who won a Junior National title out of Chardon, Ohio, Kemp went on to the University of Wisconsin, where he had one of the greatest college wrestling careers ever.
Kemp won three NCAA Div. I titles for the Badgers and placed second as a freshman, falling in the NCAA finals to Chuck Yagla of Iowa in an overtime split decision in 1975. He was that close to becoming the first four-time NCAA Div. I national wrestling champion.
The next three years after his NCAA loss, he posted 108 victories and one draw, and won three NCAA titles at 158 pounds, victories in 96 consecutive matches and an unbeaten string of 109 in a row.
Trivia Question: Name the athletes Lee Kemp beat in the NCAA finals during his college career? (Answer at the bottom of this story)
Kemp won three World gold medals in freestyle wrestling (1978, 1979, 1982) and was a 1981 World bronze medalist. He also won four World Cup titles, and Pan American Games gold medals in 1979 and 1983. Kemp competed with a very efficient style, rarely allowing any points to be scored upon him, while scoring points when he needed at the most important times of a match.
Kemp was a heavy favorite to win the Olympic gold medal in 1980, after winning two straight World title. He made the 1980 Olympic team but could not compete, when U.S. President Jimmy Carter led a U.S. government boycott of the Moscow Games.
In 1983, after making another U.S. World team, Kemp did not attend the World Championships. His replacement, Dave Schultz, won the World gold medal that year, and in a famous battle at the 1984 Olympic Trials, Schultz defeated Kemp to make the 1984 Olympic Team that competed in Los Angeles.
Kemp has remained active in wrestling throughout his life, serving in a number of coaching positions over the years at the international, college and high school levels. He served as a U.S. Olympic freestyle team coach at the 2008 Olympic Games. He has been a supporter of wrestling at many levels in many ways.
"Wrestling has always been an important part of my life. It has enabled me a place to be accepted and feel comfortable. It provided an outlet for me that has been needed. Wrestling has really enriched my life, even more than I have known at the time," Kemp told USA Wrestling in an interview.
Kemp has had a successful career in business, working in advertising, owning a car dealership, launching internet and nutrition companies and much more. He has always been creative, hardworking, a risk taker who challenges himself in everything that he does.
When you talk about greatness, Lee Kemp is part of every discussion.
Trivia Question Answer: In his NCAA finals appearances, Kemp defeated Tom Brown of Washington (1976) and Kelly Ward of Iowa State (1977 and 1978)
When you speak about greatness and wrestling, Lee Kemp needs to be in every conversation.
The number three comes to mind when talking about Lee Kemp. Three World freestyle titles. Three NCAA titles. But when you think about Lee Kemp, you also have to mention the 1980 U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympic Games, which robbed Kemp of a chance of achieving the sport’s highest honor, an Olympic gold medal.
He was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member in 1990. He was also inducted into the UWW International Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2008.
He was a trailblazer. He was the first African-American to win three NCAA titles. When he won his first World title in 1978, coming right out of college, Kemp was the youngest American World champion at that time at the age of 21 years, 8 months. He was the first U.S. wrestler to win three career World titles.
Click here for Lee Kemp’s Hall of Fame bio
A late bloomer, who won a Junior National title out of Chardon, Ohio, Kemp went on to the University of Wisconsin, where he had one of the greatest college wrestling careers ever.
Kemp won three NCAA Div. I titles for the Badgers and placed second as a freshman, falling in the NCAA finals to Chuck Yagla of Iowa in an overtime split decision in 1975. He was that close to becoming the first four-time NCAA Div. I national wrestling champion.
The next three years after his NCAA loss, he posted 108 victories and one draw, and won three NCAA titles at 158 pounds, victories in 96 consecutive matches and an unbeaten string of 109 in a row.
Trivia Question: Name the athletes Lee Kemp beat in the NCAA finals during his college career? (Answer at the bottom of this story)
Kemp won three World gold medals in freestyle wrestling (1978, 1979, 1982) and was a 1981 World bronze medalist. He also won four World Cup titles, and Pan American Games gold medals in 1979 and 1983. Kemp competed with a very efficient style, rarely allowing any points to be scored upon him, while scoring points when he needed at the most important times of a match.
Kemp was a heavy favorite to win the Olympic gold medal in 1980, after winning two straight World title. He made the 1980 Olympic team but could not compete, when U.S. President Jimmy Carter led a U.S. government boycott of the Moscow Games.
In 1983, after making another U.S. World team, Kemp did not attend the World Championships. His replacement, Dave Schultz, won the World gold medal that year, and in a famous battle at the 1984 Olympic Trials, Schultz defeated Kemp to make the 1984 Olympic Team that competed in Los Angeles.
Kemp has remained active in wrestling throughout his life, serving in a number of coaching positions over the years at the international, college and high school levels. He served as a U.S. Olympic freestyle team coach at the 2008 Olympic Games. He has been a supporter of wrestling at many levels in many ways.
"Wrestling has always been an important part of my life. It has enabled me a place to be accepted and feel comfortable. It provided an outlet for me that has been needed. Wrestling has really enriched my life, even more than I have known at the time," Kemp told USA Wrestling in an interview.
Kemp has had a successful career in business, working in advertising, owning a car dealership, launching internet and nutrition companies and much more. He has always been creative, hardworking, a risk taker who challenges himself in everything that he does.
When you talk about greatness, Lee Kemp is part of every discussion.
Trivia Question Answer: In his NCAA finals appearances, Kemp defeated Tom Brown of Washington (1976) and Kelly Ward of Iowa State (1977 and 1978)
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