Going for Gold: Franklin Regional grad Spencer Lee earns 3 wins to reach Olympic finals

Spencer Lee is one victory away from achieving his ultimate goal — being an Olympic gold medalist.

The Franklin Regional and Iowa graduate rolled into the men’s freestyle 57 kg finals with a dominating 14-4 technical fall victory Thursday against Uzbekistan’s Gulomjon Abdullaev in the semifinals.

It was his third victory of the day.

Lee will face Japan’s Rei Higuchi, the top seed, at 1:30 p.m. Friday for the gold medal.

The former Dan Hodge Trophy winner as the nation’s top college wrestler, Lee took Abdullaev down 1:15 into the match for a 2-0 lead and built on the advantage with a second takedown 45 seconds later.

He then exposed Abdullaev’s back twice for an 8-0 lead and seemed to end the match with a four-point roll through. But video replay awarded Abdullaev a four-point roll through and gave Lee two points for exposure to make it 10-4.

Lee then finished the bout with a two-point takedown and two-point exposure with 17 seconds left in the first period.

“I think I wrestled all right,” Lee told USA Wrestling. “I think I was composed. I wrestled smart.

“I think I let some of the pressure of the Games get to me. I need to open up a little more and be a little smarter. I think I wrestled three pretty diligent, smart matches.”

In the round of 16, Lee defeated China’s Wanhao Zou, 3-2. It was a rematch from the Olympic qualifier a month ago in Turkey where Lee rallied from a 6-1 deficit for a 10-9 win.

This time he never trailed. Forcing the action in the first period, Lee got a two-point takedown and a bonus point to build a 3-0 lead. Lee fended off Zou’s late push to earn the win.

“The way he wrestles, he’s dangerous,” Lee said. “I kind of gave him a lot of respect. I was waiting for him to do something, and he didn’t. I was hanging on him, moving him around and scoring early.”

Then, 40 minutes later, he easily defeated Bekzat Almaz Uulu of Kyrgyzstan, 12-2, in the quarterfinals.

Wrestling fans had to tune in early to see Lee wrestle on Peacock. His first match started at 5:50 a.m. His quarterfinal round match was near 7.

Higuchi will provide a test in the finals. In the semifinals, he earned a 10-0 technical fall win over fifth-seeded Aman Sehrawat of India.

“I’m really excited for (Friday) to do my best,” Lee said. “I know he doesn’t want silver, but I don’t want silver either. We’re going to go out there and do our best and put on a show hopefully.”

The Franklin Regional wrestling team and elementary boosters will be hosting a watch party from 12:30 to 3 p.m. Friday at Rick’s Sports Bar in Murrysville

All wrestlers, parents, alumni and supporters of the program are welcome. Wrestling fans also are welcomed to attend.

Lee, a 2017 Franklin Regional graduate, was a three-time PIAA Class 3A champion, a four-time WPIAL champion and a three-time world champion. He compiled a 144-1 record in high school before heading to Iowa, where he was a three-time NCAA Division I champion and one-time runner-up at 125 pounds, a three-time Big Ten champion and a two-time Dan Hodge Trophy winner. Earlier this year, he was a Pan American champion at 57 kilograms.

Other wrestlers with Pennsylvania ties also competed early Thursday. At 57 kg, Lehigh’s Darian Cruz represented Puerto Rico, and former Penn State wrestler Roman Bravo-Young was representing Mexico at 86 kg.

Cruz pinned Egypt’s Gamal Mohamed, and Bravo-Young fell 13-3 to Armenia’s Arsen Harutyunyan. Cruz then lost to Higuchi in the quarterfinals.

Penn State’s Aaron Brooks opened with a victory at 86 kg. He defeated Kazakhstan’s Azamat Daulertbekov, 4-3, and Japan’s Heaton Ishiguro, 11-1.

Brooks saw his gold medal dream come to end in the semifinals when Bulgaria’s Majored Ramadan exposed Brooks’ back with five seconds left for a 4-3 victory.