Iowa’s Spencer Lee reaches Paris Olympics gold medal wrestling match

One more match to go.

That’s all former Iowa wrestler and three-time NCAA champion Spencer Lee has in his way of a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics after he rattled off three wins Thursday morning. By securing, at worst, a silver medal in the 57kg class with his efforts thus far, Lee will be the 11th Hawkeye wrestler to win an Olympic medal. It also marks back-to-back cycles for a Hawkeye wrestler to medal, as Lee follows up Thomas Gilman’s bronze in Tokyo.

If Lee defeats Japan’s Rei Higuchi on Friday, a 2016 Olympic silver medalist and 2022 World champion, he would be the sixth Hawkeye ever to win Olympic gold in wrestling. The Pennsylvania native would join Ed and Lou Banach, Tom Brands, Randy Lewis and Terry McCann in that elite club. Lee would also be the first to do so since 1996 when Brands won gold.

Brands, the head coach at Iowa, also happens to be in Lee’s corner during the Olympic matches.

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Only one Iowa wrestler has taken silver at the Olympics, with Barry Davis claiming second place in 1984. All-time, Iowa wrestlers are 5-1 in Olympic gold medal matches.

Lee began his run at the 2024 Paris Olympics with a 3-2 win over China’s Wanhao Zou. That opponent may be familiar to those who followed Lee’s qualification for the Olympics. Zou pushed Lee to the brink in a 10-9 match during the Last Chance Olympic Qualifier, which the ex-Hawkeye narrowly eeked out. But on Thursday, a single-leg takedown into a push-out by Lee was enough to win against Zou, claiming a 3-2 result.

After a calculated, precise match against Zou, Lee let it fly against Bekzat Almaz Uulu of Kyrgyzstan, a U23 World bronze medalist and fifth-place winner at the 2023 Senior World Championships. Uulu got a takedown in the opening seconds of the match, but Lee dusted himself off and dominated from there. He had three four-point sequences of a takedown followed by a leg lace or gut wrench from par terre to win in a 12-2 technical fall.

Against Uzbekistan’s Gulomjon Abdullaev in the semifinal, a former Tokyo Olympian, Lee opened with a single-leg takedown just over a minute into the bout to lead 2-0. With just under a minute to go in the first period, another Lee takedown into several gut wrenches appeared to give the former Hawkeye a 12-0 lead. However, a review revealed a four-point move for Abdullaev on a takedown and into exposure, and the score was changed to a 10-4 lead for Lee instead.

Still, Lee didn’t hesitate following the review, scoring a cartwheel-like takedown and into one more gut wrench to secure a 14-4 technical fall in the first period. As a result, he has secured at least a silver for Team USA and the Iowa Hawkeyes.

“I think I wrestled all right,” Lee told the media in Paris following his win. “I think I was composed, smart. I think I let some of the pressures of the Games get to me. I think I should open up a little more and just be a little smarter, but ultimately, three pretty diligent, smart matches.”

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Lee’s par terre offense was on full display on Paris, scoring 14 of his 29 total points by gut wrenches or leg laces. Hitting on that may be crucial against a high-scoring Higuchi, as Lee can catch up from a deficit or expand a big lead at a moment’s notice as he has in the past.

It’s going to be a tall task for Lee against a highly-accomplished senior wrestler who has been equally as dominant thus far, outscoring his opponents 27-2 to Lee’s 29-8. If Lee is to win gold, look for his work on top to be the main factor.

Lee took a trip to Japan to clear his mind following his loss in the semifinals of the NCAAs his senior season. While he was there, Lee says Higuchi reached out asking to meet him, but the two were unable to meet up. However, Lee has admired him since he saw Higuchi win silver at the Olympics in 2016 and is excited about the matchup.

“I know he’s really excited for one more as well,” Lee said. “I know he doesn’t want silver, but I don’t want silver either. We’re gonna go out there and do our best to put on a show.”

Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him atEmckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.