Spencer Lee
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| Full name | Spencer Richard Lee | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National team |  American | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | October 14, 1998[1] Denver, Colorado, | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 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 is a James E. Sullivan Award and Dan Hodge Trophy winner, three-time NCAA Division I National Champion and two-time Big Ten Conference champion out of the University of Iowa, and was a three-time PIAA champion as a high schooler.[2] As of March 9, 2021, Lee is the top-ranked 125-pound NCAA wrestler in the country as per Intermat.[3]
Folkstyle career
Background
Lee was born in Denver, Colorado but grew up in Saegertown, Pennsylvania. He would end up moving again to Murrysville, Pennsylvania,[1] 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.[4] 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.[5][6]
As the top-recruit in the country, Lee had many offers from many Division I colleges, but ended up choosing the University of Iowa.[7]
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.[8] 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.[9]
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.[10] 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.[11]
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.[12] 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.[13] 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.[14][15] After the season, Lee earned All-American honors due to his performance throughout the season.[16][17]
Lee remained undefeated with a record of 18–0 through the season and outscored his opponents 234–18. He also won the prestigious 2020 Dan Hodge Trophy award and was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Year.[18]
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.[19] During regular season, Lee racked up an undefeated 4–0 record, with all of his victories coming via fall in the first period.[20] 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.[21] 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.[22] Afterwards, he was named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Year for the second straight time.[23]
Freestyle career
Cadet and Junior
Lee is a highly successful youth level wrestler. As a cadet, he compiled a World Championship in his second appearance at the tournament and two National titles. As a junior, he was never defeated and compiled two World Championships and a US Open gold medal.[24]
Senior
2019
Being 21 years old, Lee competed in his first senior level competition on December 20, at the US Nationals. He ran through the 57 kilogram' bracket, beating everyone he faced by technical fall up until the finale, including dominant victories over former NCAA champion Darian Cruz and Cornell's Vito Arujau. In the finals, he faced former NCAA champion Nathan Tomasello, whom he defeated 8 points to 2.[25]
2020
Lee was scheduled to compete at the 20' US Olympic Team Trials on April 4 at State College, Pennsylvania.[26] 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.[27]
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.[28] He won the match by fall in under a minute and twenty seconds.[29]
Freestyle record
Age-group freestyle record
Junior level
Cadet level
NCAA record
Stats
Awards and honors
- 2020
- NCAA Division I First Team All-American (125 lbs)
Big Ten Conference (125 lbs)[31]- Dan Hodge Trophy winner
- Big Ten Wrestler of the Year
- AAU James E. Sullivan Award[32]
- 2019
- U.S Senior National Championship (57 kg)[33]
- NCAA Division I (125 lbs)[34]
Big Ten Conference (125 lbs)[35]
- 2018
- NCAA Division I (125 lbs)[36]
Big Ten Conference (125 lbs)[37]
References
- ^ a b c "hawkeyesports wrestling club". hawkeyesports.com. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
- ^ "Spencer Lee - Wrestling". University of Iowa Athletics. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- ^ "InterMat Wrestling College Rankings". InterMat. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "NWCA Division I Coaches Group announces 2020 All-America Teams". Team USA. April 17, 2020. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
- ^ "2020 NWCA Division I First Team All-Americans" (PDF). National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA).
- ^ "Spencer Lee - Wrestling". University of Iowa Athletics. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "By The Numbers: Spencer Lee's Insanely Dominant Freestyle History". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Wrestlestat.com. "Spencer Lee". WrestleStat. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
- ^ "2020 Big Ten Conference Wrestling Brackets".
- ^ "Sabrina Ionescu & Spencer Lee Crowned 90th AAU James E. Sullivan Award Co-Winners Presented by Eastbay" (Press release). Amateur Athletic Union. April 29, 2020. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
- ^ "2019 Senior Nationals - US Olympic Trials Qualifier".
- ^ "2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships Brackets" (PDF).
- ^ "2019 Big Ten Conference Wrestling Brackets" (PDF).
- ^ "2018 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships Brackets" (PDF).
- ^ "2018 Big Ten Conference Wrestling Brackets" (PDF).
External links
- Spencer Lee at the International Wrestling Database
- Spencer Lee at Olympics.com
