By Mike Finn, W.I.N. Editor
Harry Lester is more than just the United States’ No. 1-rated Greco-Roman wrestler at 132 pounds. The native of Akron, Ohio, is also about to complete his history major at Northern Michigan, where he is part of the United States Olympic Education Center in Marquette, Mich.
So how would Lester write his own history?
“That’s a good question,” said Lester, who will complete his degree — as well as a minor in geography — either this December or next May. “I should write my final paper on that.
“I guess the theme would be about a guy who knew what he wanted and set out to get it,” said Lester, who will turn 23 years old on Sept. 30; just a few days after he finishes his second World Championship in Guangzhou, China, where Lester hopes to earn the first of many world/Olympic medals.
“I expect to win a gold medal this year; I expect to win another gold medal in 2007 and an Olympic gold medal in 2008.”
Those are big dreams, considering Lester is wrestling in a style that has generated just seven gold medals on the world stage for the United States in the history of Greco-Roman. But don’t second-guess Lester, who has more than proved his critics wrong when he chose to give up a college scholarship after a freshman year to concentrate on winning with upper-body moves.
“I’ve made decisions my whole life,” said Lester, who is the youngest of six children raised by Fred and Verleane Lester. “I guess it’s the environment that I grew up in; the way my parents have raised me. I’ve been able to make wise decisions. I pretty much know what I want.”
At least, he learned how to make the best of something.
First, he learned that he had to live with the nickname, “Harry.”
“Everyone in my family has nicknames,” said Lester, whose given name is actually Justin. “I think my grandmother and my dad gave me my nickname and I have no idea where they came up with it.”
Secondly, he learned that life was not going to be an easy ride. In the first six grades of Akron’s public school system, he spent more time getting into trouble than studying.
The next year, his parents enrolled him at Cuyahoga Falls Valley Christian Academy located five miles north of his neighborhood in northeast Ohio.
“I hated it with every bit of my heart,” Lester admitted. “It was different being around different people. I was kind of a troublemaker at my old school and it was hard to get in trouble at my new school.”
Instead, he was introduced to the sport of wrestling at Cuyahoga Falls — “My brother made me wrestle,” said Lester of his sibling Damion, the second youngest of four Lester boys and the first to wrestle in his family — and eventually won four state championships in the state of Ohio and compiled a 165-2 career record between 1998 and 2001.
Such a record also generated college coaches’ interest, including Iowa State’s Bobby Douglas, who signed Lester to scholarship. But after one year, Lester chose to concentrate on Greco-Roman wrestling and eventually earned a spot at Northern Michigan’s U.S.O.E.C.
During that time, Lester has quickly moved up the U.S. ladder and earned his first World berth in 2005. His time on the mat in Budapest, Hungary, was short as he wrestled … and lost … his one bout to Eduard Kratz of Germany, 5-3, 2-6, 5-1.
Lester is taking a different approach to his second World appearance.
“Last year, I kind of took time off,” he said. “I didn’t want to burn myself out just because it was my first time at the Worlds. This year I stayed consistent with lifting and my cardio and wrestling. My coach found a way for me to do all those things and still be fresh going over there. I feel really fresh.”
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