Spencer Lee

Spencer Richard Lee (born October 14, 1998) is an American freestyle and folkstyle wrestler who competes at 57 kilograms (125 pounds). In freestyle, he was the '19 US National champion and a three–time age–group World Champion, once as a cadet and twice as a junior. As a folkstyle wrestler, Lee has won the James E. Sullivan Award and the Dan Hodge Trophy twice, as well as being a three-time NCAA Division I National Champion and a two-time Big Ten Conference champion out of the University of Iowa. He was also the top-recruit as a high school wrestler at the time of his commitment. Lee is often considered as one of the most dominant athletes in college athletics.
Folkstyle career.
Background.
Lee was born in Denver, Colorado but grew up in Saegertown, Pennsylvania. He would end up moving again to Murrysville, Pennsylvania, where he attended Franklin Regional High School.
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 at 126-pounds. Going into the state finals, Lee was the pound for pound top-ranked high school wrestler and was undefeated, posting a 144–0 record in his high school career. At the finals, Lee faced the same wrestler he had beaten by technical fall at the previous year's state finals and current Iowa teammate, Austin DeSanto. The match was very close and exciting, having the crowd cheering on their feet. With Lee being up 5–4, DeSanto secured a last-second takedown, winning 6-5 and pulling up the biggest upset of the century in high school wrestling.
As the top-recruit in the country, Lee had many offers from many Division I colleges, but ended up choosing the University of Iowa.
College.
2017-18.
Lee chose not to redshirt in his first year and competed as a true freshman instead. He had immediate success, posting a 14–1 record in regular-season. He placed third at the Big Ten Conference Championships and competed at the NCAA's. At the National tournament, Lee looked absolutely dominant, winning by technical fall by 18 points to 0 in his first two bouts in less than 6 minutes combined. After that, he pinned that year's Big 12 Champion Nick Piccininni and former NCAA Champion Nathan Tomasello, reaching the finals. At the finals, he faced Nick Suriano, who has been undefeated in 2017–2018. Lee was able to defeat Suriano 5 points to 1. This result earned him the NCAA championship at 125-pounds as a true freshman.
2018-19.
Lee posted an overall record of 23–3, placed second at the Big Ten Championships and competed at the NCAA championships as a sophomore. At the 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.
2019-20.
In his junior year, Lee had the option to take an Olympic redshirt, but chose not to, stating he wanted to help the Iowa Team to win an NCAA title but he would still compete in freestyle. During regular season, he compiled a record of 15–0 with 14 of those wins bringing bonus points to the team. 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 finale. In the finals, Lee defeated the #2 ranked wrestler at 125-pounds, Devin Schroder of Purdue University, via major decision (16-2) and qualified for the NCAA's. 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. Overall, Lee remained undefeated with a record of 18–0 through the season and outscored his opponents 234–18. Due to this, Lee received the prestigious Dan Hodge Trophy as the best collegiate wrestler of the season and was named "Big Ten Wrestler of the Year". In April, Lee received the prestigious James E. Sullivan Award as the most outstanding athlete in the United States of America.
2020-21.
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. During regular season, Lee racked up an undefeated 4–0 record, with all of his victories coming via fall in the first period. 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. During post-season, Lee claimed his second back-to-back Big Ten Conference championship, earning a dominant technical fall over Devin Schroder in the finale. Afterwards, he was named the "Big Ten Wrestler of the Year" for the second straight time. At the NCAA championships, Lee continued his dominance and made his way to the finals with all of his four victories coming with high-scoring bonus points. In the finale, he faced the third seed from Arizona State Brandon Courtney, whom he was unable to get bonus points out off despite dominating him and not allowing him to score any points of his own, claiming his third NCAA title. Lee later revealed he had torn his left ACL eight days before the tournament, but competed anyway and was successful by dominating the opposition. After the season, Lee was named the Dan Hodge Trophy winner (shared with heavyweight Gable Steveson) for the second straight season.
2021-22.
Lee remains to have a year left of eligibility, as granted by the NCAA, despite competing as a senior in the season prior.
Freestyle career.
Age-group.
Lee was a highly successful age-group wrestler. 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. 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. 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.
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. 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. In 2016, Lee started off by winning the US Junior 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 dip 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.
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. 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, 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. In the finale, Lee faced NCAA champion and four-time Big Ten Conference Champion Nathan Tomasello, whom he was also able to defeat with a lopsided decision, claiming the US National Championship.
2020.
The '19 NCAA and US National champion, Lee was scheduled to compete at the US Olympic Team Trials on April 4 at State College, Pennsylvania. 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.
In his first and only match of the year, Lee wrestled four-time DI All-American Zach Sanders on November 1 at the HWC Open I. He won the match by fall in under a minute and twenty seconds.
2021.
After claiming his third NCAA title in March 20, Lee's participation at the rescheduled 2020 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. 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.
Freestyle record.
! colspan="7"| Senior Freestyle Matches
! Res.
! Record
! Opponent
! Score
! Date
! Event
! Location
 Iowa City, Iowa
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
 Fort Worth, Texas
Age-group freestyle record.
Junior level.
! colspan="7"| Junior freestyle results
! Res.
! Record
! Opponent
! Score
! Date
! Event
! Location
! style=background:white colspan=7 | 
 Mâcon, France
! style=background:white colspan=7 | 
 Irving, Texas
! style=background:white colspan=7 | 
 Las Vegas, Nevada
! style=background:white colspan=7 | 
 Salvador da Bahia, Brazil
! style=background:white colspan=7 | 
 Madison, Wisconsin
Cadet level.
! colspan="7"| Cadet freestyle results
! Res.
! Record
! Opponent
! Score
! Date
! Event
! Location
! style=background:white colspan=7 | 
 Akron, Ohio
! style=background:white colspan=7 | 
 Snina, Slovakia
! style=background:white colspan=7 | 
 Akron, Ohio
! style=background:white colspan=7 | 
 East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
! style=background:white colspan=7 | 
 Zrenjanin, Serbia
! style=background:white colspan=7 | 
 Akron, Ohio
! style=background:white colspan=7 | 
 Daytona Beach, Florida
NCAA record.
! colspan="8"| NCAA Division I Record
! Res.
! Record
! Opponent
! Score
! Date
! Event
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |Start of 2021-2022 Season (senior extra-year)
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |End of 2020-2021 Season (senior year)
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2021 NCAA Championships at 125 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2021 Big Ten Conference at 125 lbs
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |Start of 2020-2021 Season (senior year)
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |End of 2019-2020 Season (junior year)
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2020 Big Ten Conference at 125 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2019 Midlands Championships 5th at 125 lbs
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |Start of 2019-2020 Season (junior year)
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |End of 2018-2019 Season (sophomore year)
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2019 NCAA Championships at 125 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2019 Big Ten Conference at 125 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2018 Midlands Championships at 125 lbs
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |Start of 2018-2019 Season (sophomore year)
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |End of 2017-2018 Season (freshman year)
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2018 NCAA Championships at 125 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2018 Big Ten Conference at 125 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2017 Midlands Championships 6th at 125 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2017 UNI Open at 125 lbs
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |Start of 2017-2018 Season (freshman year)
Stats.
! Season
! Year
! School
! Rank
! Weigh Class
! Record
! Win
! Bonus