The 57 kg finals at the U.S. Olympic Trials in State College, Pennsylvania this weekend were an all-Hawkeye affair, giving Iowa an excellent shot at having a representative at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France later this summer. Program legend Spencer Lee, a three-time NCAA champion during his time in Iowa City, stormed through the 57 kg bracket at the Trials, culminating in beating Thomas Gilman, another former Hawkeye, in consecutive matches in the best-of-three finals.
Lee beat Gilman 6-3 in the first match of the final session, then followed that up with a win by pin in the second match of the finals. Those wins secured Lee's first Olympic Trials victory, a welcome result after injuries had often prevented Lee from competing at his best in recent years.
"It's been long and hard," Lee said of his path to Saturday's Trials win. "If it wasn't for the Iowa Hawkeye program supporting me, I'd probably be retired, I've had such a tough time staying healthy and trying to compete to the best of my ability."
The wins mean that Lee has qualified as the United States representative at 57 kg in men's freestyle in the Paris games later this year. There is a catch, though -- while Lee has secured his spot as the U.S. representative at 57 kg, the weight itself has not yet been qualified by the U.S. for the Olympics.
Countries qualify for a spot at the Olympics based on results in events leading up to the current year's Olympic Games; the U.S. wrestlers at 57 kg have not done well enough to qualify the 57 kg spot to date. Lee will have a chance to do so at the World Olympic Qualifier in Istanbul, Turkey on May 11-12.
Lee's showdown with Gilman in the best-of-three finals at 57 kg was one of the most hotly anticipated matches at the Olympic Trials and a match wrestling fans had been hoping to see for several years. Gilman was Lee's predecessor at 125 lbs at Iowa, and a three-time NCAA All-American (runner-up in 2016) and a 2017 Big Ten champion.
As a freestyle competitor, Gilman had represented the U.S. at multiple international competitions, with his best results coming in 2021. Gilman won a bronze medal at the pandemic-delayed 2020 Olympics in Tokyo in August, then won a gold medal at the World Championships two months later in Oslo, Norway. He also won a silver medal at the 2022 World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.
Lee, of course, was one of the most dominant wrestlers in Iowa history during his college career, winning 94% of his matches and earning bonus points in 82% of those victories. He was a three-time NCAA and Big Ten champion, as well as a five-time All-American.
Lee was also a dominant freestyle wrestler in his pre-college days, earning gold medals at the U-17 World Championships in 2014 and the U-20 World Championships in 2015 and 2016. Injuries, unfortunately, have had a major impact on Lee's availability since then, particularly at the senior national level.
Seeded fourth at the Olympic Trials, Lee blazed through the field at 57 kg this weekend. Yesterday, he dispatched 5-seed Nico Megaludis in the quarterfinals via an 8-0 decision. Then he dispatched 1-seed Zane Richards in the semifinals with a 13-6 decision win to set up Saturday's best-of-three showcase against Gilman.
In the first bout, Lee and Gilman were tied 1-1 after the first period, with Gilman scoring on a passivity point and Lee scoring a point on a step-out. Lee went up 5-1 in the second period after a solid takedown and a two-point gut wrench turn on the mat.
There was drama late when Gilman finally got Lee's legs and got a takedown on the edge; it looked like it may have been a four-point move (going feet to back), but was ruled only a two-point takedown on the mat. Gilman's corner challenged, but was unsuccessful, which gave Lee one more point and made the final score 6-3.
In the second encounter, Lee went up 2-0 on a pair one-point moves before Gilman tied the match in the second period with a pair of one-point moves of his own. While the score was 2-2, Gilman was ahead on tiebreaker criteria, having scored most recently.
Lee made sure that the match didn't go to criteria, though, again getting hold of Gilman's legs and winning a scramble to earn a two-point takedown. He added a pair of gut wrench turns on the mat to extend his lead, before stacking Gilman on the mat with seconds left for the pin.
After the match, Lee was effusive in his praise for Gilman, calling him a "savvy, really really good opponent."
"[He's a] World champ, Olympic bronze. He's legit," Lee added. "I hugged him and told him I always looked up to him. We were teammates. We watched film together, we trained together. Even though he's a Nittany Lion right now, that's okay, he's a Hawkeye for life."
The win was arguably Lee's biggest on a wrestling mat since his NCAA championship win in St. Louis in 2021. Lee famously won that match with two torn ACLs (and declared that "Excuses are for wusses" in his post-match comments), but recovery from those ACL repairs kept him out of action for most of 2022.
Lee returned to Iowa for a sixth and final year in 2023 in a bid to become Iowa's first-ever four-time NCAA champion, but that bid was derailed by a shock loss to Purdue's Matt Ramos in the NCAA semifinals. Lee has wrestled sparingly since then, but did take home first place honors at the Bill Farrell Open and US Nationals last year and won a gold medal at the Pan American Championships two months ago.
Lee looked healthy and in control during his matches at the Olympic Trials and appears to be in strong form to contend for an Olympic medal later this summer. Of course, he'll first need to ensure he can actually compete at this summer's Olympic games, which he can do by finishing in the top-3 at the World Olympic Qualifier in Turkey next month.
2024 World Olympic Qualifier: Istanbul, Turkey on May 11-12
2024 Olympic Games: Paris, France on July 26-August 11
