When it was all over a large contingent of Newport Knights wrestlers and fans made a beeline for Knights’ senior 113-pound wrestler Josh Lee for a celebration of epic proportions.

Lee, who captured a 5-3 victory against Bothell’s Kai Smith in the 4A KingCo 113-pound title match, was mobbed by close to 15 people in the corner of the gym following a hard-fought triumph on Feb. 2 at North Creek High School. Lee said its the first time he’s ever captured first place at the KingCo tourney in his wrestling career.

“It feels amazing. I wanted it all four years so its great to finally have it,” Lee said. “It is overwhelming. I’ve seen so many teammates do it over the years. I always knew I wanted to join them and I did it.”

Late in the third round Smith unveiled a solid double leg takedown attempt that nearly tied the match. Lee was able to fend off Smith’s attack and preserve the victory.

“I knew I had to stop him from scoring. I was up by two points and he was trying to tie it up. I was doing whatever I could to stop that,” Lee said.