Lee Klepper burst upon the wrestling scene in Rockland County in 1967 after being a two time Rockland County novice champion. The young sophomore won the county championship at 98 lbs. and finished in second place at the Section Nine tournament with a first year record of 18-2. His only other loss that year was in Long Island at the Calhoun Christmas Tournament. Those two losses would prove to be the only ones Lee would suffer in his high school career. As a junior Lee went 26-0, winning the Calhoun Christmas Tournament, the Rockland County Tournament, and capturing the Section Nine Title. In the finals of the Section Nine

tournament, Lee avenged one of his two defeats by beating Ron Lewis of Liberty, the defending Section Nine 98 lb. champion in the finals. Lee then went on to win the New York State 98lb. championship.

In 1969 Lee entered his senior year as a marked man. He was the defending state champion and now he had grown to the 106 lb. weight class. Lee equaled his junior year’s record of 26-0 and along the way won the Christmas Tournament, the Rockland County Championship, the Section Nine Championship, and for the second year in a row, Lee won the New York State Title. In 1969 Lee was the first Rockland County wrestler to become a two time state champion. In his senior year Lee was voted the Outstanding Wrestler Award by the coaches at the Rockland County and Section Nine tournaments and is a two time Journal News Wrestler of the season.

Wrestling wasn’t Lee’s only interest in High School. Lee played in the school band, achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, and was the senior class vice-president. This varied background, along with his achievements in wrestling, gained Lee an acceptance to Princeton University. While attending Princeton, Lee continued his wrestling career both on a collegiate and A.A.U. level. When he wasn’t wrestling for Princeton, Lee represented the New York Athletic Club. Lee’s four year record was 118 wins and only 20 losses. Three times Lee was named to the “All-Ivy” team and place in manytournaments around the country, including winning the Colgate University and Coast Guard Academy Tournaments. Being on the smallish side, Lee’s best success came at the A.A.U. and open

championships where he wrestled at the 105 and 114.5 lb. weight classes. Lee won the Eastern A.A.U. Championship, placed second in the National A.A.U. Tournament at 105 lbs., and won the Canadian National Open Championship held in Montreal at 105 lbs. In his senior year, Lee placed second in the National Federation Championship at 114.5 lbs. and was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at Princeton University.

After graduating from Princeton, Lee spent a few years competing nationally for the New York Athletic Club, coaching wrestling, and traveling the world. In the early eighties Lee spent time teaching physics and chemistry in Israel and became the chairman of the science department at a local Israeli school. It had always been Lee’s dream to be a doctor and in 1987 Lee graduated from The Sackler School of Medicine, in Tel Aviv, Israel. That was followed by a residency at the University of Buffalo in Internal Medicine and a fellowship at Temple University in Gastroenterology until 1992.

From 1992 to the present, Lee has been a practicing gastroenterologist in Buffalo, Virginia, and now in Maryland, where he is a partner in the medical group named Atlantic Gastroenterology, in Ocean City. Lee and his wife Jennifer have three children, Matthew, Shawn, and Melissa. They live in Ocean City, Maryland where Jennifer is a stay at home Mom and Lee coaches his son’s soccer team when not busy in his medical practice.