Spencer Lee
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Spencer Richard Lee | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | October 14, 1998[1] Denver, Colorado, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home town | Murrysville, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 125 lb (57 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Wrestling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Freestyle and Folkstyle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Hawkeye WC Young Guns WC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Tom Brands | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Spencer Richard Lee (born October 14, 1998) is an American freestyle and former folkstyle wrestler who competes at 57 kilograms.[2] In freestyle, he is a two-time US National champion and a three-time age-group world champion, once at the U17 level and twice at the U20 level.[3]
As a folkstyle wrestler, Lee won the James E. Sullivan Award and the Dan Hodge Trophy twice, as well as three NCAA Division I national championships out of the University of Iowa.[4] Lee was often considered one of the most dominant athletes in college athletics.[5][6]
Folkstyle career
Background
Lee was born in Denver, Colorado, but grew up in Saegertown, Pennsylvania. He moved again to Murrysville, Pennsylvania, where he attended Franklin Regional High School.[1]
High school
In Lee's freshman year he ended the season undefeated with a record of 49–0 and a state title at 113 pounds. As a sophomore, he also ended the season with a similar 48–0 record and a state championship now at 120 pounds. As a junior in high school, he also competed at 120 pounds, posting a perfect 12–0 record and winning state again, making him a three-time PIAA champion. As a senior, he also stayed undefeated during regular-season, competing at 132 pounds and eventually 126 pounds. Going into the state finals, Lee was the pound for pound top-ranked high school wrestler and was undefeated, posting a 144–1 record in his high school career.[7] In the finals, Lee faced the same wrestler he had beaten by technical fall at the previous year's state finals, and later Iowa teammate, Austin DeSanto. With Lee up 5–4, DeSanto secured a last-second takedown, winning 6–5 and pulling arguably the biggest upset in high school wrestling.[8][9]
As the top recruit in the country, Lee had offers from many Division I colleges, and chose the University of Iowa.[10]
College
2017–2018
Lee chose not to redshirt his first year and competed as a true freshman instead. He had immediate success, posting a 14–1 record in the regular season. He placed third at the Big Ten Conference Championships and competed at the NCAA championships.[11] At the national tournament, Lee looked dominant, winning by technical fall 18–0 in his first two bouts in less than six minutes combined. After that, he pinned both Big 12 champion Nick Piccininni and former NCAA champion Nathan Tomasello, reaching the finals. In the finals, he faced Nick Suriano, who had been undefeated in 2017–2018. Lee defeated Suriano 5–1. This result earned him the NCAA championship at 125 pounds as a true freshman, the first for the University of Iowa since Lincoln McIlravy in 1993.[12]
2018–2019
Lee posted an overall record of 23–3, placed second at the Big Ten Championships and competed at the NCAA championships as a sophomore.[13] At Nationals, Lee was as dominant as the previous year, winning by technical fall (18-0) in his first bout, major decision (10-1) in the second, and fall in the third. In his next two bouts, he defeated three-time Big 12 champion Nick Piccininni and ACC runner-up Jack Mueller, winning the NCAA championship at 125 pounds. Lee outscored opponents 55–7 in five matches at the NCAA Championships.[14]
2019–2020
In his junior year, Lee had the option to take an Olympic redshirt, but chose instead to help Iowa to win an NCAA title, though he would still compete in freestyle.[15] During the regular season, he compiled a record of 15–0 with 14 bonus points victories. At the Big Ten tournament, Lee dominated his way to the finals, winning by fall inside 3 minutes in his first bout and by technical superiority (19-3) in the semifinals, making his way to the championship finals. In the finals, Lee defeated second-seeded Devin Schroder of Purdue University, via major decision (16-2) and automatically qualified for the NCAA championships.[16] Lee was the #1 seed and a big favorite to win the championship, however, the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making Lee and all the qualifiers unable to compete.[17][18] Overall, Lee remained undefeated with a record of 18–0 through the season and outscored his opponents 234–18.[19] Due to his dominance, Lee received the prestigious Dan Hodge Trophy as the best collegiate wrestler of the season and was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Year.[20] In April, Lee received the prestigious James E. Sullivan Award as the most outstanding athlete in the United States of America.[21]
2020–2021
In October 2020, the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to winter athletes due to the last season being cut short, giving Lee the possibility of becoming a four-time NCAA champion.[22] During the regular season, Lee racked up an undefeated 4–0 record, with all of his victories coming via fall in the first period.[23] On February 8, it was announced that the Iowa Hawkeyes wrestling team had suspended all team related activities during regular season due to COVID-19 results.[24] During post-season, Lee claimed his second back-to-back Big Ten Conference championship, earning a dominant technical fall over Devin Schroder in the finals.[25] Afterwards, he was named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Year for the second straight time.[26] At the NCAA championships, Lee continued his dominance and made his way to the finals with four high-scoring bonus point wins.[27][28] In the finals, he faced the third seed from Arizona State, Brandon Courtney, whom he was unable beat by bonus points, despite dominating him and not allowing him to score any points of his own. This was his third NCAA title.[29] Lee later revealed he had torn his left ACL eight days before the tournament to match a torn right ACL suffered in the second period of the 2019 NCAA final against Mueller, but competed anyway and was successful by dominating the opposition.[30] After the season, Lee was named the Dan Hodge Trophy winner (shared with heavyweight Gable Steveson) for the second straight season.[31]
2021–2022
Lee continued to have a year left of eligibility, as granted by the NCAA, despite competing as a senior in the season prior.[22] He was announced to be the first Sino Global Capital athlete under a NIL deal.[32] He achieved a 3–0 record at the start of the season before being pulled out of it due to requiring surgery in both of his knees after recurring injuries, lending Lee eligibility to return next year.[33]
2022-2023
Lee started his final collegiate season by picking up a 16-5 major decision over Corey Cabanban of Iowa State on December 4, 2022. He would then compete in the 2022 Soldier Salute where he would end up pinning teammate Drake Ayala in the finals of the tournament. This started a streak where Lee pinned 6 straight opponents including Matt Ramos, Michael DeAugustino, Liam Cronin, and Eric Barnett.[34] 5 of those 6 pins came in the first period. He then dominated his way to his 3rd Big Ten Championship defeating Liam Cronin 8-2 in the finals.[35] At the NCAA tournament, Lee dominated his way to the NCAA semifinals where he would come up against the 4 seed Matt Ramos of Purdue.
Ramos, who put Lee on his back and led 8-1 their previous meeting,[36] got the upper hand early by taking down Lee and putting him on his back for 2 near fall points. Lee got an escape and was down 4-1 at the end of the 1st period. In the 2nd period, Lee chose top position and gained the lead with a 4 point near fall off of a tilt. He proceeded to ride Ramos out for the whole period with the score being 5-4 and Lee having 1:35 of riding time. In the 3rd period, Ramos chose the neutral position possibly to stay away from Lee's elite top game. Lee then scored a takedown with 49 seconds remaining in the match after Iowa challenged a call on the mat of no takedown. Ramos earned a quick escape to make it 7-5 Lee with 42 seconds remaining. Ramos, who was essentially down 3 points with riding time locked, got Lee on his knees, rolled and caught him on his back with 30 seconds to go. Ramos would then pin Lee with 1 second left in the match and completing arguably the greatest upset in college wrestling.[37][38] After the match, Lee medically forfeited out of the tournament, earning 6th place, finishing his college career as a three-time NCAA champion and four-time All-American.[39]
Freestyle career
Age-group
Lee was a highly successful age-group wrestler.[40] In 2013, he made the US Cadet World Team by winning the US National title, notably defeating eventual NCAA champion Austin O' Connor and eventual '14 Youth Olympic silver medalist Daton Fix, and went on to place seventh at the World Championships.[41] In 2014, he once again made the US Cadet World Team and went on to dominate the opposition at the World Championships, tech'ing and pinning his way to becoming a Cadet World Champion.[42] In 2015, Lee moved up from 50 kilograms to 54 kilograms for the US Cadet National Championships, however, he was stopped twice by Daton Fix, losing his chance at the spot.[43]
After failing to make the team, the 16-year-old Lee went back to 50 kilograms and made the US Junior World Team, tech'ing every opponent at the World Team Trials.[44] At the World Championships, Lee showed no struggle in the junior level, once again tech'ing his way to becoming now a Junior World Champion.[45][46] In 2016, Lee started off by winning the US Open, followed up making his fourth US World Team and represented the US at the Junior World Championships once again. In his last age-group showdown, Lee dominated the field on his way to the finals, before facing Kurshid Parpiev from Kyrgyzstan. In the finale, Lee went a full six-minute match for the first time in the junior level, and was forced to dig deep as his opponent held the lead after the first round, but Lee was able to scored eleven points of his own against Parpiev's five in the second period to edge the gold medal and become a two-time Junior World Champion.[47]
Senior level
2019
After more than three years of inactivity in freestyle, with his last showdown coming from his gold medal performance at the '16 Junior World Championships, the 21-year-old Lee registered to make his senior level debut at the Senior Nationals in December.[48] In his first three senior matches, Lee outscored his opponents 30–0, including a flawless victory over NCAA champion Darian Cruz, to advance to the semifinals,[49] where he faced the freshly crowned Junior World Championship silver medalist Vito Arujau, and despite making it more competitive, Arujau scoring four points, he was also shut down by Lee's ability and surrendered to a 14–4 technical fall.[50] In the finale, Lee faced NCAA champion Nathan Tomasello, whom he was also able to defeat in a lopsided decision, claiming the US National Championship.[51]
2020–2021
The 2019 NCAA and US National champion, Lee was scheduled to compete at the US Olympic Team Trials on April 4 at State College, Pennsylvania.[52] However, the event was postponed for 2021 along with the Summer Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving all the qualifiers unable to compete until the next year.[53] In his only match of the year, Lee pinned four–time DI All-American Zach Sanders on November 1 at the HWC Open I.[54][55]
After claiming his third NCAA title on March 20, 2021, Lee's participation at the rescheduled US Olympic Team Trials was put on doubt after he revealed he had torn his left ACL, leaving him with no properly functioning ACLs since his right one had already been torn earlier in his career.[30] On March 26, Lee announced that he had taken the decision of withdrawing from the Olympic Trials in order to properly recover from his injuries.[56]
2023
On April 27, Lee wrestled in his first freestyle tournament since 2019, at the US Open National Championships.[57] After three straight wins to reach the semis, where he was set to wrestle Nick Suriano, Lee forfeited out of the tournament due to his knee problems, placing sixth.[58]
Lee then competed at the Bill Farrell Memorial on November 18.[59] He racked up dominant wins over the likes of Commonwealth Games medalist Muhammad Bilal and U20 World silver medalist Luke Lilledahl to make the finals, where he defeated NCAA and US Open champion Nico Megaludis to claim gold and qualify for the 2024 US Olympic Trials.[60]
Despite having already qualified for the US Olympic Trials, Lee competed at the US Senior Nationals on December, where he picked up a gold medal to extend his win-streak.[61]
Freestyle record
NCAA record
Stats
References
- ^ a b c "hawkeyesports wrestling club". hawkeyesports.com. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
- ^ Goodwin, Cody. "'Excuses are for wusses': Iowa's Spencer Lee wins his third consecutive national title on torn ACL". Hawk Central. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
- ^ Goodwin, Cody. "Wrestling: Iowa's Spencer Lee wins Senior Nationals, qualifies for 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials". Hawk Central. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
- ^ "Spencer Lee - Wrestling". University of Iowa Athletics. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- ^ Goodwin, Cody. "Most dominant male college athlete in the country? Iowa wrestler Spencer Lee has a strong case". Hawk Central. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
- ^ "Spencer Lee Named NCAA's Most Dominant Wrestler". Go Iowa Awesome. 2020-03-24. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
- ^ "PA-Wrestling.com : Your online resource for Pennsylvania Wrestling". www.pa-wrestling.com. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- ^ "Three-time Pa. state champ Spencer Lee suffers first loss in final match". USA TODAY High School Sports. 2017-03-12. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- ^ "#1 Spencer Lee Falls In Pennsylvania State Finals To Austin DeSanto". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- ^ RossWB (2016-04-20). "Iowa Wrestling Lands Commitments From Spencer Lee and Gavin Teasdale". Black Heart Gold Pants. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
- ^ "Big Ten Conference" (PDF). bigten.org. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
- ^ NCAA, Championships (2018). "2018 NCAA Division I Wrestling Brackets" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
- ^ "Big Ten Conference" (PDF). bigten.org. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
- ^ NCAA, Brackets. "2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships" (PDF). Retrieved April 3, 2020.
- ^ Kayser, Anna. "Spencer Lee set to wrestle collegiately and internationally in 2019-20". The Daily Iowan. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
- ^ "FLOARENA". arena.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
- ^ Goodwin, Cody. "NCAA cancels Division I, II, III wrestling championships amid COVID-19 pandemic". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
- ^ "NCAA Wrestling Championships canceled". InterMat. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
- ^ "Injury Knocks Spencer Lee Out of Olympic Trials". HawkeyeNation. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ^ "Spencer Lee Wins Dan Hodge Trophy". University of Iowa Athletics. 2020-03-30. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ^ Pilcher, K. J. "Iowa's Spencer Lee wins AAU James E. Sullivan Award". The Gazette. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ^ a b Slackman, Samuel. "NCAA grants extra year of eligibility to winter sport student-athletes". The Daily Targum. Retrieved 2020-10-20.
- ^ "#1 Iowa 31, #6 Nebraska 6: Roasted Corn". Go Iowa Awesome. 2021-01-16. Retrieved 2021-01-17.
- ^ trez1313 (2021-02-09). "Iowa Wrestling pauses all team related activities". Black Heart Gold Pants. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Read, Robert. "Iowa's Spencer Lee repeats as Big Ten 125-pound champion". The Daily Iowan. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
- ^ "Iowa Claims Big Ten Wrestling Title". bigten.org. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
- ^ "Iowa leading NCAA wrestling championships". ESPN.com. 2021-03-19. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
- ^ Hanson, Austin. "Three Iowa wrestlers advance to NCAA Championship finals". The Daily Iowan. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
- ^ "Iowa wrestler Spencer Lee gives raw, emotional interview after winning national title with torn ACLs". For The Win. 2021-03-21. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
- ^ a b Goodwin, Cody. "'Excuses are for wusses': Iowa's Spencer Lee wins his third consecutive national title on torn ACL". Hawk Central. Retrieved 2021-03-20.
- ^ HawkeyeSports.com. "Spencer Lee Repeats as Hodge Trophy Winner". HawkeyeNation. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ^ @mattysino (October 6, 2021). "There's a person that met this description for me in the sport of wrestling to a degree that frankly I couldn't hav…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Goodwin, Cody. "Iowa wrestler Spencer Lee, a three-time NCAA champ, will miss the remainder of the 2021-22 season". Hawk Central. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
- ^ "Spencer Lee nabs sixth career Big Ten Wrestler of the Week honors". Hawkeyes Wire. 2023-01-25. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
- ^ Kosko, Nick (2023-03-05). "Spencer Lee wins third Big Ten title, sets up for history at NCAAs". On3. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
- ^ "No. 2 Iowa Blasts Boilermakers, 37-6". University of Iowa Athletics. 2023-01-08. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
- ^ Matt Ramos vs Spencer Lee - 125 lb Semifinals - 2023 NCAA Championship, retrieved 2023-04-19
- ^ "Iowa wrestler denied 4th straight title in stunner". ESPN.com. 2023-03-18. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
- ^ "Iowa's Spencer Lee medically forfeits out of NCAAs, ending college career | Trib HSSN". 2023-03-18. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
- ^ "By The Numbers: Spencer Lee's Insanely Dominant Freestyle History". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
- ^ "2013 FILA Cadet World Championships Recap: Pico captured gold in freestyle at Zrenjanin, Serbia". WIN Magazine. 2013-08-27. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
- ^ "Spencer Lee Wins Cadet World Freestyle Championship". PA Power Wrestling. 2014-07-19. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
- ^ "Daton Fix stages two dramatic rallies to knock off Cadet World champion Spencer Lee". Team USA. May 31, 2015. Archived from the original on June 2, 2015.
- ^ "Lee, Pico, Hall power to titles at UWW Junior World Team Trials". Team USA. June 12, 2015. Archived from the original on June 14, 2015.
- ^ "World Champion Spencer Lee Dominates Junior World Championships". PA Power Wrestling. 2015-08-15. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
- ^ "ALL-USA wrestler Spencer Lee takes home gold at world juniors in 48 seconds". USA TODAY High School Sports. 2015-08-17. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
- ^ "Spencer Lee the Comeback Kid Wins Third World Championship". PA Power Wrestling. 2016-09-03. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
- ^ Goodwin, Cody. "Wrestling Mailbag: Freestyle season, Spencer Lee, early thoughts on Midlands and Battle of Waterloo". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
- ^ "For Lee, Hodge Trophy is a Silver Lining". University of Iowa Athletics. 2020-03-30. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
- ^ "Match of the Day: Spencer Lee and Vito Arujau meet in the 2019 Senior Nationals semifinals". Team USA. July 16, 2020. Archived from the original on July 11, 2022.
- ^ "Spencer Lee Wins Senior National Championship, Qualifies For Olympic Trials". Go Iowa Awesome. 2019-12-23. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
- ^ Goodwin, Cody. "Wrestling: Iowa's Spencer Lee wins Senior Nationals, qualifies for 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials". Hawk Central. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
- ^ Goodwin, Cody. "USA Wrestling announces that 2020 Olympic Trials are postponed". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
- ^ "Lee to clash with Sanders at the HWC Showdown Open". InterMat. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
- ^ Goodwin, Cody. "Wrestling: At HWC's Showdown Open, Jaydin Eierman adds signature win ahead of Iowa career". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
- ^ Goodwin, Cody. "Iowa wrestler Spencer Lee won't compete at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team Trials due to ACL injuries". Hawk Central. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
- ^ "No More Registration Speculation: Spencer Lee Is On List For The U.S. Open - FloWrestling". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
- ^ "Spencer Lee withdraws from U.S. Open shortly after reaching semifinals". www.thegazette.com. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
- ^ "Spencer Lee Registered For 2023 Bill Farrell - FloWrestling". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
- ^ "Former Iowa wrestler Spencer Lee qualifies for Olympic Trials". Hawk Central. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
- ^ Roering, Kenna. "Six Hawkeyes place in top five at Senior Nationals, earn berth to 2024 Olympic Trials". The Daily Iowan. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
- ^ Wrestlestat.com. "Spencer Lee". WrestleStat. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
External links
- Spencer Lee at the International Wrestling Database
