Spencer Lee, shown at the U.S. Olympic Trials in April, will wrestle for a gold medal on Friday.
Courtesy USA Wrestling
PARIS, France, August 8, 2024 – The American wrestler with relatives in France moved into the gold medal finals on Thursday night.
Spencer Lee won three bouts at Champ de Mars Arena to earn a spot in Friday’s gold medal final at 57 kilograms (125.6 pounds) at the 2024 Summer Olympic games in Paris.
Two American wrestlers also qualified for bronze medal matches on Friday after losing their semifinal freestyle bouts. Two-time Olympic medalist Helen Maroulis (57 kg) and Aaron Brooks (86 kg/189.5 pounds) will wrestle for bronze.
Lee got his offense rolling in the semifinals, securing a 14-4 technical fall over No. 7 seed Gulomjon Abduallaev of Uzbekistan. Lee jumped to a huge early lead, with two takedowns, followed by two turns for an 8-0 lead.
In an active exchange, officials gave Lee four points for a 12-0 technical fall. However, a challenge led to officials giving Abdullaev four points and Lee two, making it 10-4. Lee quickly scored a takedown and turn to end it at 14-4.
In the finals, Lee will battle Rei Higuchi of Japan, a 2022 world champion and 2023 world bronze medalist who won a silver medal in the 2016 Olympic Games.
Lee won his first two matches on Thursday morning, stopping Wanhao Zou of China, 3-2, then getting a 12-2 technical fall over Bekzat Almaz Uulu of Kyrgyzstan.
Lee was a three-time NCAA champion for Iowa and won three age-group world titles for the United States, two at the U17 level and one at the U20 level. He is originally from Murrysville, Pa., where he starred for Franklin Regional High School.
Maroulis was defeated in the semifinal by No. 1 seed and three-time world champion Tsugumi Sakurai of Japan, 10-4. Maroulis scored the first takedown, but Sakurai answered with a four-point counter to lead 4-2 at the break.
In the second period, Sakurai scored a takedown and turn to lead 8-2, then added another takedown for a 10-2 lead. Maroulis answered with a two-point reversal for the final 10-4 score.
Sakurai won her first world title at 55 kg in 2021, then claimed the next two world titles at 57 kg. Sakurai also beat Maroulis in the 2022 world championships and the 2023 world championships.
Maroulis is attempting to become the first U.S. woman to win three Olympic medals. She will compete on Friday night in a bronze medal match against the winner of the repechage bout between Hannah Taylor of Canada and Luisa Valverde of Ecuador.
Maroulis was a four-time WCWA college national champion, winning three for Simon Fraser and one for Missouri Baptist. She is a native of Rockville, Md.
Brooks, competing on a U.S. Senior world-level team for the first time, lost a heartbreaking 4-3 decision to No. 5 seed Magomed Ramazanov of Bulgaria in the semifinals.
Brooks had the lead in the first period, 3-0, with a shot clock point and a double leg takedown. Ramazanov scored a spin behind takedown in the second period to close it to 3-2. In the final seconds of the match, with Brooks in on a leg attack, Ramazanov scored a slick counter exposure and beats Brooks, 4-3
Ramazanov qualified through the world Olympic Qualifier in Istanbul, and just started wrestling for Bulgaria after competing for Russia most of his career.
Brooks will face the winner of the repechage match between Alexander Moore of Canada and Javrail Shapiev of Uzbekistan.
Brooks, a four-time NCAA champion for Penn State, has won age-group world titles at the U20 and U23 levels. He hails from Hagerstown, Md.
The tournament continues on Friday morning at 11 a.m. local time (5 a.m., EST), with the start of competition for Americans Kyle Dake (74 kg), Mason Parris (125 kg), and Kayla Miracle (62 kg). All of the action is live on Peacock.
