Tag: Spencer Lee

Best photos of Iowa’s Spencer Lee at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games

Spencer Lee is one match away from Gold. His best photos in Paris so far.

Spencer Lee, an Iowa Hawkeyes wrestling legend, is going for the gold medal on Friday, Aug. 9, in the 57 kg men’s freestyle.

Lee will battle Japan’s Rei Higuchi in the finals for the gold medal. Higuchi is a 2022 World champion and 2023 World bronze medalist who won a silver medal in the 2016 Olympic Games.

Lee rolled into the gold-medal finals with a 14-4 technical fall victory over No. 7 seed Gulomjon Abduallaev of Uzbekistan. A pair of takedowns followed by two turns gave Lee a huge early lead at 8-0 over Abduallaev.

Lee didn’t look back from there, securing the technical fall with one final takedown to secure the final 14-4 margin.

Lee won his first two matches on Thursday morning, stopping Wanhao Zou of China, 3-2, then getting a 12-2 technical fall over Bekzat Almaz Uulu of Kyrgyzstan.

During his decorated career with the Hawkeyes, Lee was a three-time NCAA champion.

Now, Lee has the chance to join another illustrious list of Hawkeye greats. The Murrysville, Pa., native is already set to become the 11th Hawkeye wrestler to win an Olympic medal.

But, with a gold-medal victory over Higuchi on Friday, Lee would become just the sixth Hawkeye ever to win Olympic gold in wrestling. Lee would join Ed and Lou Banach, Tom Brands, Randy Lewis and Terry McCann upon that mountaintop.

Lee would be the first to do so since 1996 when Brands won gold.

As Lee gears up for the gold-medal match versus Japan’s Higuchi, here’s a look at his best photos in the Paris Games.

Iowa wrestling legend Spencer Lee advances to Olympic semifinals

Gold is within Spencer Lee’s reach.

The Iowa Hawkeyes are shining bright on the biggest stage in the world. They are making their presence known in Paris at the 2024 Olympics and Spencer Lee, the Iowa wrestling legend, just made his mark.

Spencer Lee is onto the Olympic Wrestling semifinals after two wins in a row. In the round of 16, Lee took down China’s Zou Wanhao by a score of 3-2.

He followed that performance up with an even more impressive win in the quarterfinals. He marched past Kyrgyzstan’s Almas Uulu with a 12-2 victory to secure a spot in the semis.

Up next for Spencer Lee is a semifinal matchup with Gulomjon Abdullaev of Uzbekistan which is set to take place around 11:15 a.m. CT with a spot in the championship match on the line.

Taking the mat under the bright lights is nothing new for Spencer Lee. While at Iowa, he amassed a career record of 98-6. He won the Big Ten Championships three times (2020, 2021, 2023) and took home first place in the NCAA Division I Championships three times (2018, 2019, 2021) in the 125-pound weight class.

Lee also has experience on the international stage. He won the U17 World Championship in 2014, the U20 World Championships in 2015 and 2016, and the 2024 Pan American Championship in 2024.

Lee is one win away from a chance at the gold medal but is also still very much in contention for the podium pending the results of his next match as just four wrestlers remain.

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Iowa’s top ranked Spencer Lee upset by Purdue’s Matt Ramos

Three-time national champion Spencer Lee of Iowa was upset, ruining his bid for a fourth title.

One of the biggest upsets in wrestling history was lost in the craziness of yesterday’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, including No. 16 Farleigh Dickinson’s upset of No.1 Purdue. Perhaps even more unlikely than Fairleigh Dickinson’s own upset win.

Iowa’s Spencer Lee, the nation’s top-ranked wrestler at 125 pounds and a three-time NCAA Champion was upset by No.4 Matt Ramos of Purdue.

Lee, entered Friday night on a 58-match winning streak and a career record of 98-6. He was a heavy favorite to claim his fourth NCAA Championship. Conversely, Ramos entered with a career record of 55-14 including 35-4 this season.

Ramos pulled off the historical upset despite trailing 7-5 heading into the final minute of the match. In the closing seconds, Ramous would pin Lee to ultimately win the match as time expired.

Now with his upset win over Lee, Ramos will move onto the finals where he’ll take on Pat Glory of Princeton. Both wrestlers will be looking for their first career national championships on Saturday.

The NCAA Men’s Wrestling Championships will conclude on Saturday with the finals taking place throughout the day. The NCAA Team Championship, however, has already been claimed as Penn State on Saturday morning won their 10th championship in 12 years and second in a row.

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Top-ranked NCAA wrestler Spencer Lee’s mom completely shattered her glasses after her son’s championship loss

Poor Cathy Lee. This was such a rough moment to see

There’s a lot of focus on college basketball right now and rightfully so. The Fairleigh Dickinson-Purdue upset is worth your time alone.

But the Division 1 Wrestling championships are going on, too. And Iowa’s three-time champion, Spencer Lee, was in the midst of competing for a chance at a potential fourth straight title.

As it turns out, though, he was upset in the semi-finals by Purdue’s Matt Ramos on Friday. It turned out to be one of the more stunning upsets in D1 wrestling history. No one expected Lee to lose.

That includes his mom, Cathy Lee, who absolutely shattered her glasses after seeing her son lose.

That’s such a tough moment to watch. Cathy, who is a Judo practitioner and an Olympic alternate, clearly has a lot of passion for wrestling and was obviously rooting for her son.

You win some and you lose some. But, sometimes, the losses hit a bit harder. This was one of those moments for the Lee family.

It’s a shame to see the run end this way. But Spencer Lee is still one of the best to ever do it. Cathy should be proud of her son, even in defeat.

Spencer Lee is a Hawkeye legend, a look at his best moments with the Hawkeyes

Spencer Lee is among the greatest to ever do it at Iowa regardless of the sport. Here are some of his best moments with the Hawkeyes.

Regardless of the sport, Spencer Lee has more than a strong foundation to be arguably the best, most-decorated, all-time athlete to ever be a member of the Iowa Hawkeyes program.

Lee’s list of accomplishments is long: undefeated at home inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena, a two-time Big Ten champion, a three-time NCAA champion, a two-time Junior World champion, a US National Champion, and No. 1 ranking through nearly all of his collegiate career at the 125-pound weight class.

An elite mentality is part of what makes Lee so phenomenal. Lee famously won the 2021 NCAA championship with both of his ACLs torn, just an incredible feat that shows his toughness and grit to go get something he has worked so hard for.

As Lee eyes this season’s Big Ten Championships and the NCAA Championships, let’s take a moment to look at some of the best photos of Lee’s time as a member of the Iowa Hawkeyes.