Leroy (Lee) P. Kemp, Jr. (born Darnell Freeman; December 24, 1956) is a former American
freestyle
Freestyle may refer to:
Brands
* Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe
* Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile
* Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine
* ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker
* Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott La ...
and
folkstyle wrestler. Kemp would achieve success at the high school, collegiate, and international levels.
Kemp started wrestling in only the 9th grade at
Chardon High School
Chardon High School (commonly Chardon, Chardon High, or CHS), is a public high school in Chardon, Ohio, USA, serving students in grades 8- 12. The school is part of the Chardon Local School District, with admission based primarily on the locati ...
, in
Chardon, Ohio
Chardon is a city in and the county seat of Geauga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 5,242 at the 2020 census.[University of Wisconsin–Madison
A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...](_blank)
, Kemp was a four-time
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
Division I National finalist, winning the championship three times and placing 2nd, on a split referee's decision, as a true freshman at 18 years old. Lee recorded losses to only three wrestlers in his collegiate career. His last college loss was in the NCAA finals as a freshman, posting 110 wins and no losses against collegiate competition during his last three years, which included the historic win over the legendary
Dan Gable
Danny Mack Gable (born October 25, 1948) is an American former folkstyle and freestyle wrestler and coach. Considered to be one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, Gable is a two-time NCAA Division I national champion, a world gold medalist, ...
in November of Lee's sophomore year.
Kemp was America's first three-time World Champion, winning his first title in 1978 at age 21, establishing him as th
youngest American world championever, a distinction he held for 30 years. Lee was a four-time World Cup Champion, 7-time United States Freestyle National Champion and was a heavy favorite for gold earning a berth on the 1980 United States Olympic Freestyle Wrestling Team, but was unable to compete because of the U.S.
boycott
A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...
of the
Olympics
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
.
Kemp was inducted into the
National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum and hall of fame for amateur wrestling, headquartered in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2010, it began operating the Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo, Iowa.
History
The museum was awarded to Stillw ...
in 1990. While at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, where he was one of the freestyle coaches for the U.S., he became just the fifth American to be inducted into the
United World Wrestling
United World Wrestling (UWW) is the international governing body for the sport of amateur wrestling; its duties include overseeing wrestling at the Olympics. It presides over international competitions for various forms of wrestling, including ...
(formerly known as FILA) Hall of Fame.
Kemp is the subject of a film documentary, entitle
Wrestled Away: The Lee Kemp Story on his life scheduled for theatrical release Summer 2019, and is the co-founder and President of LKNutrition (formerly FORZA Technologies), a nutritional supplement company. LKNutrition (formerly FORZA) was the official corporate sponsor of USA Wrestling and its national teams.
Early life
Kemp was born in
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, to a single mother, who eventually put him up for adoption. He was adopted by Leroy Percy Kemp and his wife Jessie. He was their only child, and after the adoption they legally changed his name from Darnell Freeman to Leroy P. Kemp, Jr. The Kemps lived in Cleveland until Leroy Jr. finished 6th grade, when they purchased a farm in
Chardon, Ohio.
Wrestling career
High school
As a freshman at Chardon high school, Kemp got involved in wrestling after being cut from the basketball team. He made the varsity as a sophomore for the 1972 season and finished with an 11-8-3 record. The next two seasons he was an Ohio State high school champion and finished undefeated in his junior and senior years. His first state title included wins over th
defending state championand the previous years' state runnerup. His career record in high school was 78-8-3. Prior to matriculating at the University of Wisconsin, Lee was one of only four American Junior wrestlers that recorded
dual meet winagainst a tough Junior Soviet team on their Ohio stop of an eight city United States tour (which resulted in 80 total matches being contested). Lee also won the Junior Freestyle Nationals in the summer of 1974.
College
Kemp started for Wisconsin as a true freshman and finished second at the
Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
tournament at 150 pounds. He also reached the finals of the 1975 NCAA tournament and lost a split referees decision to Chuck Yagla of the
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...
. That was the last loss of Kemp's career. Kemp's only losses in his collegiate career were to three wrestlers in his freshman year.
The following season, Kemp moved up a weight class to 158 pounds. Kemp won the NCAA title at 158 pounds the next three seasons and the only blemish on his record was a single tie finishing with 110 collegiate wins, which included the histori
winover the legendary
Dan Gable
Danny Mack Gable (born October 25, 1948) is an American former folkstyle and freestyle wrestler and coach. Considered to be one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, Gable is a two-time NCAA Division I national champion, a world gold medalist, ...
in November of Lee's sophomore year, while he was still 18 years old. March 10, 2010 Inside Wisconsin Sports Article
The Day Lee Kemp Beat the Great Dan Gable, by
Mike Beacom. He completed his college career with a record of 143-6-1 and 47 falls. He had a 96-match winning streak (no losses or ties) and a 110-match unbeaten streak., National Wrestling Hall of Fam
Freestyle
Kemp, in his first major international tournament, won a gold medal at 74 kg (163 pounds) at the world freestyle championships in August 1978. At the age of 21 years and 8 months, he had become the youngest American to capture a world or Olympic gold medal. He held that distinction for 30 years until
Henry Cejudo
Henry Cejudo (born February 9, 1987) is an American professional Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and Freestyle wrestling, freestyle wrestler. He is the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) UFC Flyweight Championship, Flyweight Ch ...
won the Olympic gold medal at the
2008 Beijing Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...
.
He repeated as world champion in 1979 and 1982—becoming the first American to win three times—and added a bronze medal in 1981. He also won a gold medal at the 1979 and 1983
Pan American games
The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...
. He was the U.S. freestyle champion for five straight years from 1979 through 1983. The U.S. boycott of the
Moscow Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...
prevented him from winning the ultimate prize—an Olympic gold medal. Kemp retired in 1984 after finishing second at the U.S. Olympic trials. His record in all international competition was 53–8.
Kemp was inducted into the
National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum and hall of fame for amateur wrestling, headquartered in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2010, it began operating the Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo, Iowa.
History
The museum was awarded to Stillw ...
in 1990. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he was one of the freestyle coaches for the U.S., becoming just the fifth American to be inducted into the
FILA
Fila Holdings Corp. is a sportswear brand of shoes and apparel. The company was founded by Ettore and Giansevero Fila in 1911 in Coggiola, near Biella, Piedmont, Italy. In 2003, it was sold to United States-based Sports Brand International. Sub ...
International Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Professional career
Kemp earned both a bachelor's and master's degree in
marketing
Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...
from the University of Wisconsin. He spent the first several years of his post athletic career working in the field of marketing for major corporations. In 1991, Kemp became President/Owner of Forest Lake Ford, a
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
dealership located i
Forest Lake, MNnear
Minneapolis/St Paul. The dealership was named to the Top 100 list of minority-owned auto dealerships, by
Black Enterprise
''Black Enterprise'' is a black-owned multimedia company. Since the 1970s, its flagship product ''Black Enterprise'' magazine has covered African-American businesses with a readership of 3.7 million. The company was founded in 1970 by Earl G ...
, in 1995, 1996, 1997, and 2004. Kemp sold the dealership in 2005.
Kemp is the subject of a film documentary on his life released in 2019. He is also the co-founder and President of Forza Technologies, a nutritional supplement company. FORZA is th
official corporate sponsor of USA Wrestlingand its national teams.
Kem
remains active in wrestlingon a broad scale, teaching and mentoring youth and high school level wrestlers at his wrestling academy.
[http://www.leekemp.com/lee-kemp-academy-of-wrestling-3/ Lee Kemp Wrestling Academy] He has three children, two sons and a daughter. His youngest child, Adam Kemp, is also a successful wrestler.
Other accomplishments
* 1975 Defeated Dan Gable 7–6 at the Northern Open
* 1978 US Wrestling Federation "Man of the Year"
* 1978
Sullivan Award Finalist
* 1979 Sullivan Award Finalist
* 1983 Inducted into the Wisconsin Wrestling Hall of Fame
* 1998 Named the "Wrestler of the Decade" for the 70's by the Amateur Wrestling News
* 2005 Named to the NCAA Wrestling 75th Anniversary Team
* 2008 Inducted t
International Wrestling Hall of Fame* 2009 Elected to the
Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michi ...
Further reading
* Sports Illustrated - February 21, 1977 - Suppression of His Aggression
* Sports Illustrated - August 23, 1982 - Alone in the Eye of the Hurricane
* The Olympian - September 1983 - US Wrestling Star only Lack Gold Medal
* Hammond, Jairus K. 2005.
The History of Collegiate Wrestling. National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum.
* Moffat, James V. 2007.
Wrestlers At The Trials. Exit Zero Publishing.
* Hammond, Jairus K. & Little, Lisa. 2008.
The African American Wrestling Experience. National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
* Inside Wisconsin Sports, March 10, 2010, The Day Lee Kemp Beat the Great Dan Gable, by Mike Beacon
References
External links
Collegiate RecordWrestling Hall of FameLee Kemp Web SiteTakedown TV Interview with Lee KempInternational Wrestling Hall of Fame - FreestyleFILA Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kemp, Leroy
1956 births
American adoptees
American male sport wrestlers
Living people
Wisconsin Badgers wrestlers
Sportspeople from Cleveland
University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni
World Wrestling Championships medalists
Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States
Pan American Games medalists in wrestling
People from Chardon, Ohio
Wrestlers at the 1979 Pan American Games
Wrestlers at the 1983 Pan American Games
Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games
Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games