Spencer Lee has been a champion in almost every wrestling tournament he has entered.
The two missing titles from his impressive resume are the Senior Worlds Championship and the Olympics.
He is hoping to change that in the not-to-distant future.
“The goal is to make the Senior World Games and make the Olympic team,” Lee said. “It would be great to represent the United States in Los Angeles (in 2028).”
The 2017 Franklin Regional graduate fell to Japan’s Rei Higuchi, 4-2, in the men’s freestyle 57-kilogram final at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, settling for a silver medal.
Higuchi, the top seed, used a takedown early in the second period and got a second takedown late in the match when Lee tried a desperation move with 5 seconds left and the match tied.
Because Higuchi had a takedown, if the match had ended in a tie, he would have won by a tiebreaker.
Lee, 27, scored two points by forcing Higuchi out of the circle and out-of-bounds. He was able to fend off Higuchi’s single-leg attack in the first period.
The 2022 Iowa graduate and Murrysville native was the first Westmoreland County athlete to win an Olympic medal. Hempfield graduate Jasmine Jones later earned a bronze medal in the two-woman bobsled in the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Kurt Angle is the only WPIAL wrestler to win a gold medal at the Olympics.
If Lee wants to represent the United States in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, he must continue to sharpen his skills.
If things go as planned over the next two seasons, winning a Senior World title and an Olympic title would complete his resume.
Lee will compete at the 2026 U.S. World Team Trials Final X title match June 19 in Newark, N.J. where he will match up against Luke Lilledahl in a best-of-three event. Lee is 2-1 against Lilledahl.
Lee (53-5) won the first two meetings, 7-2 and 6-0, at the 2025 U.S. World Team Trials, but Lilledahl used a late takedown for a 5-4 win at the 2026 U.S. Open.
Final X will determine the 2026 U.S. World Team and decide who will represent the United States at the 2026 Senior World Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan.
It also marks a major step in his pursuit of a spot on the 2028 U.S. Olympic Team.
Lee does not like losing and that is what keeps him pursuing championships. He said he must be aggressive in all his matches to achieve his goals and win his big matches.
“Score points,” Lee said. “That is my style. My opponents tend to try to lay back and score at the end. That is what Luke did in our last match.”
That style is how Lee won most of his high school and college folkstyle matches. Lee would take an opponent down and use various tilts to score points.
Once Lee got on top of an opponent, that foe rarely escaped. Lee said he loves the feeling when his opponent gives up while he’s on top.
Lee, who won the James E. Sullivan Award and was a two-time winner of the Dan Hodge Trophy at Iowa, has endured a few injuries during his career.
“Spencer always said he does not use injuries as an excuse,” his father Larry Lee said. “But it is part of his career. People do not know what he has been through.”
Lee’s resume includes being a three-time NCAA champion and four-time finalist, a three-time PIAA champion and four-time finalist, a four-time WPIAL champion and 2024 Pan American champion.
He finished his collegiate career 98-6 and his high school career 144-1.
Spencer Lee resume
Professional record: 53-5
Collegiate record: 98-6
High school record: 144-1
3-time PIAA champion
4-time WPIAL champion
3-time NCAA champion (2018, 2019, 2021)
2-time U20 World champion (2015-16)
U17 World champion
2024 Pan American champion
2-time U.S. National champion (2019, 2023)
Olympics silver medalist (2024)