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Iowa’s Spencer Lee earns Olympic men’s freestyle silver medal
Lee lost 4-2 decision to Japan’s Rei Higuchi, becomes the Hawkeyes’ first silver medalist since Barry Davis in 1984
Aug. 9, 2024 1:24 pm, Updated: Aug. 9, 2024 4:44 pm
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 Iowa three-time NCAA champion and Hawkeye Wrestling Club member in the 125.5-pound final of men’s freestyle wrestling Friday in Paris.
Lee is the 11th Hawkeye medalist and 20th overall to wrestle in the Olympics. Iowa has had a medalist in two straight Olympics, getting a bronze from Thomas Gilman in Tokyo in 2021 (postponed from 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic).
Lee posted a 2-0 lead at the midway point. He scored two one-point pushouts before the break. Higuchi came out on top of a scramble early in the second to tie it 2-2, but held criteria with a higher-scoring move.
Lee was unable to get another point and gave up a takedown off a desperation scoring attempt in the finals 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.
He thumped Uzbekistan's Gulomjon Abdullaev, 14-4, for a first-period technical superiority decision in the semifinals. He posted a 12-2 tech over Kyrgyzstan's Bekzat Almaz Uulu in the quarterfinals, opening with a hard-fought 3-2 decision over China's Wanhao Zou.
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