2024-08-09 09:30:01
Spencer Lee is currently wrestling for Team USA at the 2024 Olympics in the 57 kg weight class. Check out the below article for Lee’s complete results from Paris.
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Round 1 – 3-2 Win Over Wanhao Zou, CHN
Lee put the pressure on Zou early forcing Zou on the activity clock just a minute into the match. Lee hit a nice, right-side single and finished on the edge as the clock ran out giving Lee a 3-0 lead with the takedown and shot-clock point. Lee had a lace locked up on the edge and took it over but the ref blew the whistle calling out of bounds before Lee rolled the lace through. Not much happened the rest of the first period and Spencer took a 3-0 lead into the break.
Neither Lee nor Zou showed much urgency at the start of the second period. Lee caught a shot from Zou and almost got to an ankle but Zou defended to keep the score a 3-0. Zou his conservative approach until about thirty seconds to go and got on the board with a stepout. Zou continued to come forward but didn’t get close to a takedown – Spencer gave up another point on a caution but nothing else to hold on to win 3-2.
Quarterfinals Opponent – Bekzat Almaz Uulu, KGZ
Almaz Uulu is a two-time U23 World bronze medalist and also defeated Kartbay last year (8-5). Beyond that, Almaz Uulu also has a win on his ledger over Vito Arujau at the 2022 U23 World Championships. Almaz Uulu is tough and should be a good test for Lee.
Semifinals – 14-4 win over Gulomjon Abdullaev, UZB
The match started with a hard club by Spencer Lee – Abdullaev took issue with it and they stopped to warn Lee. Lee controlled the handfight early and got to his right side single and finished cleanly to go ahead 2-0 early. Lee got back to his offense and earned another takedown and transitioned to 2 turns to go up 8-0. Lee almost ended the match but Abdullaev countered with a 4 but Spencer scored 2 during the sequence to hold a 10-4 lead. After a wild scramble, Lee ended up with a takedown and finished off the match with a gut for the tech.
Finals Opponent – Rei Higuchi, JPN
Rei Higuchi was runner-up to Stevan Micic last year but has put together an outstanding 2 years and was in on the winning takedown as time expired against Micic. Higuchi won the 61 kg world title in 2022 where he dominated his competition recording three techs with his closest match coming in a 15-7 decision over Seth Gross. Higuchi won an Olympic silver medal 8 years ago at the 2016 Rio Olympics and will look to upgrade to gold against Lee.
Higuchi has put together a dominant tournament in Paris with techs over Darian Cruz (12-2) and Aman Sehrawat (10-0). It’s clear that Lee and Higuchi are the class of this weight and their finals match should be incredible.
