Spencer Lee has come a long way in a year.
Considering Lee, a University of Iowa redshirt senior wrestler, first tore his ACL as a senior at Franklin Regional in 2017 — it’s actually more like nearly six years.
After first injuring his knee near the end of one of the most prolific high school careers in Pennsylvania history, Lee has gone on to win three NCAA Division I championships — and become one of the nation’s top collegiate wrestlers at any weight class — all while competing through ACL injuries as a sophomore, junior and senior at Iowa.
“I had both ACLs torn, and I tried wrestling with it last season,” recalled Lee, who competed in just three matches before undergoing surgeries to repair both of his knees in January 2022.
“It’s crazy to think that pretty much a year ago I was in a chair with both my knees straight, in a brace on both knees, keeping them from being able to bend,” he added. “I had surgery on both knees at the same time. I’m just happy to be back to doing what I love at the highest level.”
Lee said he is now nearly completely healthy for the first time since enrolling at Iowa. He is currently sitting on a 51-match winning streak, the ninth longest in Hawkeyes history, and is the nation’s top-ranked wrestler in the 125-pound weight class.
“I don’t really think about it because I’ve always wanted to be undefeated so, to me, I guess the streak toward the end of your career doesn’t mean much to be honest,” said Lee of his winning streak that dates back to 2019. “[In my] mind, I’m supposed to win every match and do my best every match.”
Lee has turned in some of his most dominant performances lately. He had a career-best six consecutive falls during a span of matches from Dec. 30 through Jan. 22.
During the run, Lee pinned four opponents ranked in the top 10 nationally, including No. 3 Michael DeAugustino of Northwestern, No. 6 Eric Barnett of Wisconsin, No. 7 Liam Cronin of Nebraska and No. 9 Matt Ramos of Purdue.
“Win streaks are because you’re taking care of business, and they happen because of focus and attitude and controlling the things that you can control,” Iowa wrestling coach Tom Brands said. “Spencer is unique as a competitor. He is a ferociously fierce competitor, and I don’t think that that quality is talked about a lot with him.”
Brands, who praised Lee for his “humble” nature despite serving as what he called an “ambassador” for his sport, said his wrestler’s approach has remained unchanged since coming to Iowa City.
“Any competitor at this level, you take the bad with the good and you take the good with the bad and you persevere,” said Brands of Lee, who is 91-5 with 77 bonus victories, 33 pins, 30 technical falls and 15 major decisions at Iowa. “He’s done that magnificently.”
And Lee is nowhere near being finished.
An NCAA champion in 2018, 2019 and 2021, Lee said his improved health has led to making him an even more lethal force as he competes to become the first wrestler in Iowa history to win a fourth title.
“This is the first season I don’t have a torn ACL since I’ve been in college,” he said. “I guess it just means that I think I can do things that I wasn’t able to do. Before I had to be a little slower. I think I can be a little more explosive now, and I can have some more pop to my shots and my offense. It also gives me confidence that I can be able to do those things, but you also have to be careful.”
While Lee said he still worries about reinjuring his knees, he is entering the next phase of his wrestling career with plenty of confidence.
Lee said he is wrestling toward winning a world championship, along with turning in a strong showing in the U.S. Olympic Trials and a spot in the 2024 games in Paris.
“That’s the goal, and that’s what the carrot is you keep dangling in front of him,” Brands said. “That’s why this isn’t national championship or bust in college. There’s more cats to skin, and he wants to skin all the cats. He doesn’t want to just get to the mountaintop and stop.”
Standing in Lee’s way will be former Iowa wrestler Thomas Gilman, who won a bronze medal for the United States at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
“There’s a lot of really great wrestlers,” said Lee of his weight class. “The one that obviously everyone wants me to talk about, I’m sure, is Gilman. He’s the guy right now.
“He’s had a lot of success in the weight class,” Lee added of Gilman. “We were teammates for a bit, so we’ve wrestled a lot. Hopefully we can put on a show for the fans. Hopefully we can have that matchup this year for the world team and then the Olympic team as well. I’d love to see it.”
So would Brands.
“Spencer Lee, he’s a three-time world champion right now,” Brands said. “He’s no stranger [to Gilman]. He was extremely, extremely competitive with Gilman in the room.
“I think that you go out, you take them one at a time, and you have a blast, and you do what you do best,” he added of Lee. “When that happens, you know what? A guy like Spencer Lee is going to conquer the world.”
Lee, who won four WPIAL and three PIAA championships at Franklin Regional, said he owes a lot of his success to his tenure at Iowa.
“It’s been an honor, it really has,” Lee said. “It’s been humbling. The fans have been amazing. The university has been super, super awesome with me.
“My career’s not over here,” he added. “There’s a lot of wrestlers in the Iowa wrestling program who have a lot more accolades than me. At the end of the day, whatever people say about me they are going to say about me. I just have to go out there and do my best.”
John is a copy editor and page designer at the Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jsanta@unionprogress.com.