by Lee lost 4-2 to Japan’s Rei Higuchi, becoming the Hawkeyes’ first silver medalist since Barry Davis in 1984.
August 9, 2024 1:24 p.m., updated: August 9, 2024 4:44 p.m.
Japan’s Rei Higuchi, in red, and American Spencer Richard Lee compete in the men’s freestyle wrestling 57kg final at Champ-de-Mars Arena during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Spencer Lee is an Olympic silver medalist.
Japan’s Rei Higuchi scored twice in the second period for a 4-2 decision over the former three-time NCAA champion from Iowa and member of the Hawkeye Wrestling Club in the men’s freestyle 125.5-pound final Friday in Paris.
Lee is the 11th Hawkeye medalist and 20th overall to compete in the Olympics in wrestling. Iowa has had a medalist in two consecutive Olympics, getting a bronze from Thomas Gilman in Tokyo in 2021 (postponed from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
Lee led 2-0 at halftime. He scored two one-point pushouts before the break. Higuchi got the better of a scrum early in the second period to tie it 2-2, but held on through a high-scoring play.
Japan’s Rei Higuchi, in red, and American Spencer Richard Lee compete in the men’s freestyle wrestling 57kg final at Champ-de-Mars Arena during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Lee was unable to get another point and gave up a takedown following a desperate attempt to score in the closing seconds.
Lee became Iowa’s seventh Olympic finalist and is just the Hawkeyes’ second silver medalist, joining Barry Davis, who won his in 1984 in Los Angeles.
In the semifinals, he beat Uzbekistan’s Gulomjon Abdullaev 14-4 by technical decision in the first period. In the quarterfinals, he beat Kyrgyzstan’s Bekzat Almaz Uulu 12-2 by technical decision, opening the match with a hard-fought 3-2 win over China’s Wanhao Zou.
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