This weekend's 57kg final at the U.S. Olympic Trials in State College, Pennsylvania was an all-Hawkeye affair, giving Iowa State a great chance to earn a spot at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France later this summer. was given.Program legend spencer leeA three-time NCAA champion during his time in Iowa City, he reached his peak by topping the 57kg weight class at the trials. thomas gillmananother former Hawkeye, played back-to-back games in the best-of-three finals.
Lee defeated Gilman 6-3 in the first match of the final session, followed by a pin victory in the second final match.
With this win, Lee qualified to represent the United States in the men's freestyle 57kg division at the Paris Games later this year. However, there is a catch. Lee has secured a spot on the U.S. team at 57kg, but his weight does not yet qualify the U.S. for the Olympics.
Countries qualify for the Olympics based on the results of events leading up to this year's Olympic Games. So far, American wrestlers in the 57kg weight class have not performed well enough to step into the 57kg bracket. Lee will have that chance at the World Olympic Trials, which will be held in Istanbul, Turkey, on May 11th and 12th.
The showdown between Lee and Gilman in the best-of-three 57kg final was one of the most anticipated matches of the Olympic Trials, and one that wrestling fans had wanted to see for years. Gilman was Lee's predecessor at 125 pounds at the University of Iowa, where he was a three-time NCAA national champion (2016 runner-up) and 2017 Big Ten champion.
As a freestyle athlete, Gilman has represented the United States in multiple international competitions, with his best performance coming in 2021. She Gilman won a bronze medal at the pandemic-delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in August, and since then she has won gold medals at two world championships. A few months later, she was in Oslo, Norway. She 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 in college, winning 94 percent of his matches and earning bonus points in 82 percent of them. He won his NCAA and Big Ten championships his third time and also made his fifth appearance at the National Championship.
Lee was also a dominant freestyle wrestler before entering college, winning gold medals at the 2014 U-17 World Championships and the 2015 and 2016 U-20 World Championships. Unfortunately, the injury greatly affected Lee's availability. Since then, especially at the senior national level.
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Lee, the fourth seed at the Olympic Trials, ran through the field this weekend with 57kg.Yesterday he shipped 5 seeds Nico Megaroudis In the quarterfinals, they won with an 8-0 decision.Then he sent the 1 seed Zane Richards They won a 13-6 decision in the semifinals, setting up a best-of-three showcase against Gilman on Saturday.
In the first match, Lee and Gilman were tied 1-1 after the first period, with Gilman scoring on a passivity point and Lee scoring on a step-out. Lee led 5-1 in the second period with a solid takedown and a two-point gut wrench turn on the mat.
There was some drama towards the end when Gilman finally grabbed Lee's legs and got a takedown on Edge. It appeared to be a four-point move (foot-to-back), but on the mat it was ruled to be only a two-point takedown. Gilman's attempted corner kick was unsuccessful, giving Lee one more point and making the final score 6-3.
In their second matchup, Lee took a 2-0 lead with two one-point moves, and Gilman tied it in the second period with two one-point moves. The score was 2-2 for him, but the tie-break criteria favored Gilman, who had scored most recently.
However, Lee saw that the match was not up to par and grabbed Gilman's leg again, winning the scramble and getting a two-point takedown. He extended his lead with two gutwrench turns on the mat, piling Gilman on the mat with seconds left before the pin.
The win was perhaps Lee's biggest on the wrestling mat since winning the NCAA Championship in St. Louis in 2021. Lee famously won that match with two torn ACLs (declaring in his post-fight comments, “Excuses are crap”), but his recovery from ACL repair meant that He missed games for most of 2022.
Lee returned to Iowa State for his sixth and final year in 2023, aiming to become the first four-time NCAA champion in Iowa State history, but a shocking loss to Purdue put that goal on hold. It failed. matt ramos in the NCAA semifinals. Lee hasn't wrestled much since then, but he earned championship honors at last year's Bill Farrell Open and U.S. Championships, and won gold at the Pan American Championships two months ago.
Lee looked healthy and in control during his Olympic Trials competition and appears to be in good enough shape to compete for an Olympic medal later this summer. Of course, you need to see what you can actually do first. compete This summer's Olympics can be achieved by finishing in the top three at the World Olympic Qualifiers to be held in Turkey next month.
2024 World Olympic Qualification: Istanbul, Turkey May 11-12 2024 Olympic Games: Paris, France July 26-August 11
