HELENA — Lee Lambrecht might appear to just be a senior at Helena Capital, but not only is he a standout on the wrestling team holding an undefeated record in Class AA, he’s an avid bass angler who regularly competes in tournaments in the western United States.
Lambrecht was a freshman when Capital High wrestling coach Jeff Mahana took the reins in 2014. Mahana said he expected Lambrecht to blossom this year following a fifth-place finish at the state tournament last year, even after an injury sidelined him for the latter half of the season.
“Last year he took fifth place for us. He had a pretty tough knee injury last season, sat out the last half of it, wrestled (at the Western AA divisional meet) and ended up taking fifth at state,” said Mahana. “So we anticipated he would do well this year when we came in, and he’s doing really well.”
As for this season, Lambrecht thinks this is his prime time to shine.
“The last few years there’s always been one or two kids in my bracket who are pretty much unbeatable, and this year I think I‘m one of those kids,” said Lambrecht, who is Class AA’s second-ranked wrestler at 132 pounds. “There’s no one in Montana in the AA that can beat me right now.”
Lambrecht doesn’t spend every waking hour on the mat; he also has the bass fishing bug. Lambrecht grew up fishing for trout, but once he caught his first bass in Helena, he was hooked.
“Spring Meadow Lake got me into bass fishing. I don’t know how, but I caught a bass down there one time, and I just started to want to catch bass,” said Lambrecht. “All my life I‘ve just been trout fishing and fly fishing, and once I started to catch bass I just thought that was cool.”
Following the conclusion of wrestling season in mid-February, Lambrecht will begin competing in bass fishing events shortly thereafter if weather permits.
