The wrestling bio of Iowa freshman Spencer Lee tells of his three PIAA championships at Franklin Regional High, his near-perfect career record of 144-1 and his two Junior World titles.
It also reveals that his mother was an alternate for the Olympic judo team and that his dad was the judo national and Paralympic coach, among other factoids.
It is this blend of brilliance and bloodlines that made Lee the No. 1 recruit in the nation, much like Duke’s Marvin Bagley III in basketball and Alabama’s Najee Harris in football.
So coveted was Lee, who wrestles at 125 pounds, that he would have drawn the same dizzying attention as the football and basketball stars if wrestling had a broader appeal.
He’s that good.
“He would have whipped my tail when I was his age,” said Hawkeyes coach Tom Brands, a legend in the sport.
To underscore Lee’s impact, Brands, a three-time national champion at Iowa and an Olympic gold medalist, broke an 11-year policy on Jan.5. That’s when he allowed Spencer to become the first freshman of his tenure to bypass a redshirt year.
“A no-brainer,” said Brands, who has led Iowa to three NCAA team titles and has produced 10 NCAA champions.
Forty-six seconds into his debut match against Michigan State, Lee rewarded his coach by pinning Rayvon Foley with a fireman’s carry.
The blink-or-you-missed-it victory wowed a curious crowd at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, many of whom came to get an up-close look at Lee, who is a little more than nine months removed from ACL surgery.
“I went out and got my [tie-ups], took a couple shots and ended up connecting on one,” Lee said of his quick win. “I put him on his back and finished him from there.”
But in only 46 seconds?
Where were the nerves? The jitters?
“In wrestling, you take what is given to you,” Lee said. “My coach says, ‘When you get them on their back, you end it.’ That’s what happened.”
Nine days after his introduction to college wrestling, Lee and the seventh-ranked Hawkeyes (9-0) faced then-No. 3 and undefeated Oklahoma State in front of 13,485 at home.
This time, he outscored seventh-ranked Nick Piccininni, 10-5, in helping the Hawkeyes defeat their rivals, 20-12. The victory vaulted Lee to No. 6 in the national rankings.
Not that he’s keeping tabs on such things.
“I’m focused on my conditioning,” he said.
Lee continues to work back into shape after the ACL injury, which effectively cost him a fourth consecutive PIAA title and an undefeated career record. His lone high school defeat came in the PIAA final, when he was wrestling on only one good leg. He was vying to become only the sixth in Pennsylvania history to go undefeated in his career.
“It’s been a long comeback,” said Lee, who competed unattached (separate from the team) in winning one tournament and placing sixth in another prior to the Michigan State match. “I had to focus on improving and getting better every day. Whether it was getting stronger or getting into better wrestling positions, I had to work at it. The best part was the coaching staff and my teammates helped me to keep my morale high.”
One of those teammates is sophomore Michael Kemerer, also a Franklin Regional grad and one of the nation’s top wrestlers at 157 pounds. Kemerer, undefeated this season, finished third at the 2017 NCAA championships and was named an All-American. He is currently No. 2.
Like Lee, Kemerer was a sought-after recruit. But few have generated the hype that has surrounded Lee in recent weeks.
When word of his debut became official, Brands was inundated with questions.
“One reason this is big news is because it’s Spencer Lee,” Brands said. “He’s special, but on another level, it’s just a decision that is made in your program. Not that it’s ho-hum, but you would like to be business as usual, but that’s not what the media or fans or even probably opponents don’t want to leave it lay like that. So, that’s why we’re talking about it. It’s why our marketing and promotions has done some work with it. The good thing is he represents himself very well. He represents our program very well.”
Swarmed by reporters each time he is available to the media, Lee handles the attention with aplomb.
“You can’t let that overwhelm you,” he said. “You can’t let the pressure get to you. I guess that’s the way I was brought up. I was taught to never let that overwhelm you, whether it’s the media hyping you up or something else. You focus on the next match.”
The next one for Lee and Iowa is Sunday at No. 2 Ohio State. The road ahead will likely get more challenging, and Lee loves every second of it.
“It’s why I came here,” he said.
Confident and self-assured, Lee was straightforward when discussing the possibility of winning a national championship earlier this week.
“If I didn’t believe in myself, I’d be in the wrong sport,” he said. “This is a team sport, but it’s also an individual sport. You have to have confidence and be sure of yourself. I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t.”
First Published: January 17, 2018, 12:45 p.m.
