Spencer Lee

Spencer Richard Lee (born October 14, 1998) is an American freestyle and folkstyle wrestler. In freestyle, he is a 3-time World Champion representing the United States, once as a cadet and twice as a junior. As a folkstyle wrestler, Lee is a two-time NCAA Division I Champion and Dan Hodge Trophy winner out of the University of Iowa and three-time PIAA champion as a high schooler.[2] As of May 16, 2020, he is the pound-for-pound top-ranked NCAA wrestler in the country.[3]

Spencer Lee
Personal information
Full nameSpencer Richard Lee
National team American
Born (1998-10-14) October 14, 1998[1]
Denver, Colorado,
ResidenceMurrysville, Pennsylvania[1]
Height1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)[1]
Weight125 lb (57 kg)
Sport
CountryUnited States
SportWrestling
Event(s)Freestyle and folkstyle
ClubHawkeye WC
Young Guns WC
Coached byTom Brands
Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
Representing  United States
U.S. National Championships
2019 Fort Worth57 kg
Junior World Championships
2016 Mâcon50 kg
2015 Salvador50 kg
Cadet World Championships
2014 Snina50 kg
Collegiate Wrestling
Representing the Iowa Hawkeyes
NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
2018 Cleveland125 lb
2019 Pittsburgh125 lb
Big Ten Championships
2018 East Lansing125 lb
2019 Minneapolis125 lb
2020 Piscataway125 lb

High School

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.[4] At the finals, Lee faced the same wrestler he had beaten by technical fall at last 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]

University

Lee had many offers of many Division I universities, but ended up choosing the University of Iowa.[7]

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 undefeated (in 17'-18') wrestler Nick Suriano, whom he was able to defeat outscoring him 5 points to 1. This result earned him the NCAA championship at 125-pounds as a true freshman.[9]

2018-19

As a sophomore, Lee posted an overall record of 23-3, placed second at the Big Ten Championships and competed at the NCAA championships.[10] At the Nationals, Lee was as dominant as last year, winning bytechnical 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 at the moment's three-time Big 12 Champion Nick Piccininni and that year's 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 this 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] He is currently the pound-for-pound top-ranked wrestler in the United States.[19]

Freestyle

Cadet & 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.[20]

Senior

Being 21 years old, Lee competed in his first senior level competition on December of 2019, 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 four-time NCAA medalist Nathan Tomasello, whom he defeated 8 points to 2.[21]

Lee was scheduled to compete at the 20' US Olympic Team Trials on April 4 at State College, Pennsylvania.[22] 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.[23]

Freestyle record
Senior Freestyle Matches
Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location
2019 US Nationals at 57 kg
Win 5-0 Nathan Tomasello 8-2 December 22, 2019 2019 Senior Nationals - US Olympic Trials Qualifier

Ford Worth, Texas

Win 4-0 Vitali Arujau TF 14-4
Win 3-0 Darian Cruz TF 10-0
Win 2-0 Shane Kim TF 10-0
Win 1-0 Jacob Moran TF 10-0

Youth freestyle record

Junior level
Junior freestyle results
Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location
2016 World Championship at 50 kg
Win 19-0 Khurshid Parpiev 11-9 August 30 - September 4, 2016 2016 Junior World Wrestling Championships

Mâcon, France

Win 18-0 Aliabbaas Rzazade TF 10-0
Win 17-0 Rasvan Kovacs TF 14-0
Win 16-0 Valentin Damour Fall
Win 15-0 Engin Centin TF 11-0
2016 US World Team Trials at 50 kg
Win 14-0 Mosha Schwartz TF 10-0 May 21, 2016 2016 Junior US World Team Trials

Irving, Texas

Win 13-0 Mosha Schwartz TF 10-0
2016 US Open at 50 kg
Win 12-0 Patrick McKee TF 10-0 April 28, 2016 2016 Junior US Open Wrestling Championships

Las Vegas, Nevada

Win 11-0 Rhett Golowenski TF 10-0
Win 10-0 Dominic LoJoie TF 10-0
2015 World Championship at 50 kg
Win 9-0 Alireza Goodarzi TF 10-0 April 11–16, 2015 2015 Junior World Wrestling Championships

Salvador da Bahia, Brazil

Win 8-0 Bhart Datil TF 12-2
Win 7-0 Roberti Dingashvili TF 10-0
Win 6-0 Darkhan Kalkenov TF 14-2
Win 5-0 Roman Gutsulyak TF 10-0
2015 US World Team Trials at 50 kg
Win 4-0 Danny Vega TF 10-0 June 10, 2015 2015 Junior US World Team Trials

Madison, Wisconsin

Win 3-0 Danny Vega TF 10-0
Win 2-0 Brandon Courtney TF 10-0 2015 Junior US World Team Trials Challenge Tournament
Win 1-0 Liam Cronin TF 10-0

Cadet level
Cadet freestyle results
Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location
2015 US Nationals at 54 kg
Loss 24-4 Daton Fix 6-9 June 31, 2015 2015 UWW Cadet US National Wrestling Championships

Akron, Ohio

Loss 24-3 Daton Fix 5-5
Win 24-2 Austin Gomez TF 10-0
Win 23-2 Nicholas Raimo TF 14-4
Win 22-2 Jordin James TF 10-0
Win 21-2 Will Lewan TF 11-0
2014 World Championship at 50 kg
Win 20-2 Afgan Khashalov TF 11-0 July 15, 2014 2014 Cadet World Wrestling Championships

Snina, Slovakia

Win 19-2 Nicolai Grahamez Fall
Win 18-2 Akkaya Deniz TF 12-0
Win 17-2 Balazs Egyed TF 10-0
2014 US Nationals at 50 kg
Win 16-2 Daton Fix TF 11-1 June 24, 2014 2014 ASICS FILA Cadet US National Wrestling Championships

Akron, Ohio

Win 15-2 Ben Freeman TF 10-0
Win 14-2 Drew West TF 10-0
Win 13-2 Danny Vega TF 10-0
Win 12-2 Jaden Van Maanen TF 10-0
Win 11-2 Joseph Barber TF 10-0
Win 10-2 Allan Hart TF 11-0
2013 World Championship 7th at 50 kg
Loss 9-2 Irakli Mkheidze 3-6 August 21–28, 2013 2013 Cadet World Wrestling Championships

Zrenjanin, Serbia

Loss 9-1 Mahir Amiraslanov TF 4-11
Win 9-0 Abolfazi Hajipurmiji TF 8-0
Win 8-0 Ravzan Domitru TF 7-0
2013 US Nationals at 50 kg
Win 7-0 Daton Fix TF 13-2 June 26, 2013 2013 FILA Cadet US National Wrestling Championships

Akron, Ohio

Win 6-0 Jack Mueller Fall
Win 5-0 Noah Baughman Fall
Win 4-0 Josiah Seaton TF 10-0
Win 3-0 Timothy Sakow TF 10-0
Win 2-0 Bryce West TF 17-6
Win 1-0 Kanen Storr Fall

NCAA record
NCAA Division I Record
Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event
Start of 2020-2021 Season (senior year)
End of 2019-2020 Season (junior year)
2020 Big Ten Conference at 125 lbs
Win 63-5 Devin Schroder MD 16-2 Mar 8, 2020 2020 Big Ten Championships
Win 62-5 Jack Medley TF 19-3
Win 61-5 Nicolas Aguilar Fall
Win 60-5 Nick Piccininni MD 12-3 February 23, 2020 Oklahoma State - Iowa Dual
Win 59-5 ? FF February 15, 2020 Minnesota - Iowa Dual
Win 58-5 Jack Medley 8-1 February 8, 2020 Iowa - Michigan Dual
Win 57-5 Logan Griffin Fall February 2, 2020 Iowa - Michigan State Dual
Win 56-5 Brandon Meredith TF 16-1 January 31, 2020 Penn State - Iowa Dual
Win 55-5 Hunter Lucas TF 18-0 January 24, 2020 Ohio State - Iowa Dual
Win 54-5 Alex Thomsen TF 18-0 January 18, 2020 Nebraska - Iowa Dual
Win 53-5 Devin Schroder TF 15-0 January 12, 2020 Iowa - Purdue Dual
Win 52-5 Liam Cronin TF 15-0 January 10, 2020 Iowa - Indiana Dual
2019 Midlands Championships 5th at 125 lbs
Win 51-5 Connor Ryan Fall December 29, 2019 2019 Mindlands Invitational Championships
Win 50-5 Christian Moody Fall
Win 49-5 Liam Cronin Fall
Win 48-5 Michael Cullen TF 16-0 December 1, 2019 Wisconsin - Iowa Dual
Win 47-5 Alex Mackall TF 17-2 November 24, 2019 Iowa - Iowa State Dual
Win 46-5 Fabian Gutierrez MD 16-5 November 17, 2019 Chattanooga - Iowa Dual
Start of 2019-2020 Season (junior year)
End of 2018-2019 Season (sophomore year)
2019 NCAA Championships at 125 lbs
Win 45-5 Jack Mueller 5-0 March 23, 2019 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Win 44-5 Nick Piccininni 11-4
Win 43-5 Sean Russell Fall
Win 42-5 Sean Fausz MD 10-1
Win 41-5 Bryce West TF 18-0
2019 Big Ten Conference at 125 lbs
Loss 40-5 Sebastian Rivera 4-6 Mar 10, 2019 2019 Big Ten Championships
Win 40-4 Sean Russell MD 8-0
Win 39-4 Elijah Oliver Fall
Loss 38-4 Nick Piccininni Fall Feb 24, 2019 Iowa - Oklahoma State Dual
Win 38-3 Ethan Rotondo Fall Feb 17, 2019 Iowa - Wisconsin Dual
Win 37-3 Elijah Oliver Fall February 15, 2019 Indiana - Iowa Dual
Win 36-3 Brandon Cray Fall February 8, 2019 Maryland - Iowa Dual
Win 35-3 Zeke Moisey MD 18-4 February 3, 2019 Iowa - Nebraska Dual
Win 34-3 Travis Piotrowski Fall Jan 25, 2019 Iowa - Illinois Dual
Win 33-3 Nick DeNora Fall January 18, 2019 Rutgers - Iowa Dual
Win 32-3 Sean Russell 4-0 January 13, 2019 Iowa - Minnesota Dual
2018 Midlands Championships at 125 lbs
Loss 31-3 Sebastian Rivera 3-7 December 29, 2018 2018 Mindlands Invitational Championships
Win 31-2 Pat Glory 12-6
Win 30-2 Drew Hildebrandt TF 18-0
Win 29-2 Bryce West TF 17-0
Win 28-2 Malik Heinselman Fall
Win 27-2 Luke Resnick TF 15-0 December 8, 2018 Lehigh - Iowa Dual
Win 26-2 Alex Mackall MD 13-4 December 1, 2018 Iowa State - Iowa Dual
Win 25-2 Pat Glory TF 18-2 November 16, 2018 Princeton - Iowa Dual
Win 24-2 Alejandro Hernandez-Figueroa TF 18-0 November 9, 2018 Iowa - CSU Bakersfield Dual
Win 23-2 Tomas Gutierrez TF 16-0 November 9, 2018 Iowa - Kenn State Dual
Start of 2018-2019 Season (sophomore year)
End of 2017-2018 Season (freshman year)
2018 NCAA Championships at 125 lbs
Win 22-2 Nick Suriano 5-1 March 17, 2018 2018 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Win 21-2 Nathan Tomasello Fall
Win 20-2 Nick Piccininni Fall
Win 19-2 Luke Welch TF 18-0
Win 18-2 Alonzo Allen TF 18-0
2018 Big Ten Conference at 125 lbs
Win 17-2 Luke Welch TF 16-0 Mar 3, 2018 2018 Big Ten Championships
Win 16-2 Sebastian Rivera MD 12-0
Loss 15-2 Nathan Tomasello 1-2
Win 15-1 Rayvon Foley Fall
Win 14-1 Sinjin Briggs Fall Feb 18, 2018 Iowa - Iowa State Dual
Win 13-1 Carson Kuhn Fall Feb 10, 2018 Iowa - Penn State Dual
Win 12-1 Sebastian Rivera 7-4 February 4, 2018 Northwestern - Iowa Dual
Win 11-1 Ethan Lizak TF 15-0 February 2, 2018 Minnesota - Iowa Dual
Win 10-1 Drew Mattin TF 15-0 Jan 27, 2018 Michigan - Iowa Dual
Win 9-1 Nathan Tomasello 3-2 Jan 21, 2018 Iowa - Ohio State Dual
Win 8-1 Nick Piccininni 10-5 January 14, 2018 Oklahoma State - Iowa Dual
Win 7-1 Rayvon Foley Fall January 5, 2018 Michigan State - Iowa Dual
2017 Midlands Championships 6th at 125 lbs
Loss 6-1 Ronnie Bresser 1-3 December 29, 2017 2017 Mindlands Invitational Championships
Win 6-0 Sean Russell TF 15-0
Win 5-0 Travis Piotrowski TF 17-2
Win 4-0 Killian Cardinale Fall
2017 UNI Open at 125 lbs
Win 3-0 Skyler Petry Fall December 9, 2017 2017 UNI Open Tournament
Win 2-0 Johnny Jimenez Fall
Win 1-0 Dack Punke TF 16-0
Start of 2017-2018 Season (freshman year)

Stats
Season Year School Rank Weigh Class Record Win Bonus
2020 Junior University of Iowa #1 (DNQ) 125 18-0 100.00% 88.89%
2019 Sophomore #1 (1st) 23-3 88.46% 73.08%
2018 Freshman #1 (1st) 22-2 91.67% 75.00%
Career 63-5 92.65% 77.94%

[24]

Awards and honors
2020
2019
2018
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References
  1. "hawkeyesports wrestling club". hawkeyesports.com. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  2. "Spencer Lee - Wrestling". University of Iowa Athletics. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
  3. "P4P". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
  4. "PA-Wrestling.com : Your online resource for Pennsylvania Wrestling". www.pa-wrestling.com. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
  5. "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.
  6. "#1 Spencer Lee Falls In Pennsylvania State Finals To Austin DeSanto". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
  7. RossWB (2016-04-20). "Iowa Wrestling Lands Commitments From Spencer Lee and Gavin Teasdale". Black Heart Gold Pants. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  8. "Big Ten Conference" (PDF). bigten.org. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  9. NCAA, Championships (2018). "2018 NCAA Division I Wrestling Brackets" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  10. "Big Ten Conference" (PDF). bigten.org. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  11. NCAA, Brackets. "2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships" (PDF). Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  12. Kayser, Anna. "Spencer Lee set to wrestle collegiately and internationally in 2019-20". The Daily Iowan. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  13. "FLOARENA". arena.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  14. Goodwin, Cody. "NCAA cancels Division I, II, III wrestling championships amid COVID-19 pandemic". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  15. "NCAA Wrestling Championships canceled". InterMat. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  16. "NWCA Division I Coaches Group announces 2020 All-America Teams". Team USA. April 17, 2020. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  17. "2020 NWCA Division I First Team All-Americans" (PDF). National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA).
  18. "Spencer Lee - Wrestling". University of Iowa Athletics. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  19. "P4P". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
  20. "By The Numbers: Spencer Lee's Insanely Dominant Freestyle History". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  21. "Spencer Lee Wins Senior National Championship, Qualifies For Olympic Trials". Go Iowa Awesome. 2019-12-23. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  22. Goodwin, Cody. "Wrestling: Iowa's Spencer Lee wins Senior Nationals, qualifies for 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials". Hawk Central. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  23. Goodwin, Cody. "USA Wrestling announces that 2020 Olympic Trials are postponed". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  24. Wrestlestat.com. "Spencer Lee". WrestleStat. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  25. "2020 Big Ten Conference Wrestling Brackets".
  26. "2019 Senior Nationals - US Olympic Trials Qualifier".
  27. "2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships Brackets" (PDF).
  28. "2019 Big Ten Conference Wrestling Brackets" (PDF).
  29. "2018 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships Brackets" (PDF).
  30. "2018 Big Ten Conference Wrestling Brackets" (PDF).
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