Manitoba wrestler, bowler climb podium at Pan Am Games

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This article was published 03/11/2023 (703 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Hunter Lee didn’t expect to be wrestling at the Pan Am Games but he made good on a late call-up to the national team.

On Thursday, the 24-year-old Flin Flon product beat Puerto Rico’s Ethan Ramos 14-4 to earn a bronze medal in the 86-kilogram freestyle division in Santiago, Chile.

It was Lee’s first podium finish at an international multi-sport games.

“I haven’t competed actually in a while and I don’t feel a ton of nerves usually for wrestling,” said Lee by telephone. “But I felt a little bit of rust, I guess is the way to say it, in my very first match. I felt a little off and it took me a couple minutes to get used to that feeling of competing on the wrestling mat.”

Meanwhile, Winnipegger Mitch Hupé and François Lavoie of Quebec City claimed silver in the men’s doubles tenpin bowling. Lavoie previously won gold in the same event at Toronto 2015, while Hupé is making his first Pan Am Games appearance.

On Friday, the 28-year-old Hupé took aim at gold in men’s singles by leading all competitors after the first day of qualifying.

In wrestling, Lee lost a 12-2 decision to American Mark Hall, the eventual silver medallist, in the quarter-finals but received a bye to his bronze-medal match with Ramos.

The wrestlers competing in Santiago were chosen based on their performances at the Canadian championships in March, where Lee reached the final before losing to Montreal’s Alex Moore. Moore, however, had to withdraw from the Games due to injury and Lee happily filled the void.

Lee, who has wrestled only twice in the past year following an excellent U Sports career at the University of Saskatchewan, has been training and competing in mixed martial arts events to prepare for a full-time transition to the sport.

“When I didn’t make the (Olympic wrestling) team I was splitting my training a little bit,” said Lee, who has been using Vancouver as a training base. “I was doing some MMA fights and taking a little bit of a break from competing because you compete so much during your college career and when I was younger I competed a ton and you just kind of lose that love for the sport a little bit. And so I took some time off to focus on MMA which is similar but is also a bit like of a refresher where I could kind of start to do a different thing. And then as I’m coming back to wrestling, I’m starting to enjoy more again.”

Next on Lee’s schedule are the Canadian Olympic Trials. Only the top Canadian in each weight class qualifies for the 2024 Paris Games and Lee expects Moore to be his chief competition for the Olympic berth.

“For most of my wrestling career he’s been the No. 1 guy and then I’ve thought of myself as slowly chasing after him and hoping to close the gap,” said Lee. “And it’s been slowly closing every year and now we’re getting like close matches. And so, hopefully, I can peak at the right time and then take that spot from him.”

Following the Olympics, Lee plans to make the move to an MMA career more permanent.

“I’ve been thinking of it as my last run to make to the Olympics,” said Lee. “But I know from watching other guys that so many say that and then the next Olympic cycle comes around and you see it coming up and you’re like, ‘Oh, I’ve still kind of got it. I could, I could make another run.’ Right now I’m planning for it be in my last my last year of wrestling, but I’m still I’m still pretty young, and I could see myself getting pulled back in for 2028.”

In bowling, Hupé had an eight-game average of 244.6 after the first day of qualifying led the field. All 25 competitors will bowl another eight games of qualifying Saturday, with the top four advancing to Sunday’s bracket final.

Lavoie entered Saturday’s action in third place with a 217.9 average, 214 pins behind Hupé.

“I’m gonna get ahead of myself but it’s a 78-pin lead on on second place, and I want to say 200-plus points on fifth place… It’s a good amount, but we have another eight games (of qualifying) and I don’t want to get ahead of myself. Things can change pretty rapidly so I’m not taking anything for granted at this point.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca