Spencer Lee’s 83-year old grandmother lives in France and never has seen him wrestle in person.
She will this summer.
The Franklin Regional and Iowa graduate qualified for the Summer Olympic Games in Paris by reaching the finals Saturday at the Last Chance Olympic qualifier in Istanbul, Turkey.
Lee went 4-0. The finalists do not wrestle a finals match because they have already qualified for the Olympics, which will be held July 26 to Aug. 11.
Lee made Team USA last month during a qualifier at Penn State but did not receive an automatic bid to the Olympics in the 57 kilograms division. Because the USA didn’t finish in the top five at the 2023 World Championship or the top 2 at the 2024 Pan-Am Olympic Games qualifier, Lee had to qualify at the Last Chance Olympic qualifier.
He earned that bid with four impressive wins Saturday.
“It’s great and all, but being an Olympian doesn’t mean a whole lot unless you come back with that prized gold medal,” Lee told USA Wrestling.
Lee needed to rally from a 6-1 deficit against China’s Zou Wanhao in the Round of 16 to win 10-9.
His other three wins were blowouts.
Wanhao was a bronze medalist in the 2018 World Championship.
Lee opened with a 10-0 against Morocco’s Ben Tarik. After beating Zou, he defeated North Macedonia’s Vladimir Egorov, 12-2, in the quarterfinals and then blanked Kazakhstan’s Rakhat Kalzhan, 10-0, in the semifinals.
Lee was a three-time NCAA and PIAA champion.
His mother, Cathy, was an Olympian for France who competed in judo. Lee’s parents (Cathy and Larry) met in France 33 years ago.
“I was talking to Cathy, and we’ve come full circle,” Lee’s dad, Larry, said. “We’re so proud of Spencer and what he’s gone through to overcome the injuries. He’s really grown up because of the obstacles that were in front of him.”
Lee joins former Greensburg Central Catholic great Colleen Rosensteel to compete in the Olympics from Westmoreland County. She competed in Judo in 1992, 1996 and 2000.
Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.