The Iowa Hawkeyes will be without 3-time NCAA Champion and 2-time Hodge Trophy winner Spencer Lee for the remainder of the season. In one of the most impressive stories from last season, Lee won an NCAA Title with torn ACL’s in both of his knees. However, Lee is unable to compete this season due to further complications from those injuries and will undergo surgery in the coming weeks. 

Spencer Lee confirmed this news via his Twitter:

pic.twitter.com/fXO57ZaArW

— Spencer Lee (@LeeSpencerlee36) January 2, 2022

This year, Lee sat out the first three dual meets and didn’t wrestle in the four open tournaments in which the Hawkeyes participated. Lee was in action for the first time at the Collegiate Duals on December 20-21 and went 3-0 against Jakob Camacho (6-1), Jaret Lane (8-0), and Brock Bergelin (17-0). Because of that limited action, Lee is likely still eligible for a medical redshirt and could compete for Iowa in the 2022-2023 season if the redshirt is approved.

With Lee out of the lineup, the Hawkeyes have three other options at 125 - Jesse Ybarra, Drake Ayala, and Aaron Cashman. Ybarra has manned the spot in Lee’s absence up until this point of the season and is 5-1 on the season losing only to Iowa State’s Kysen Terukina. Ayala has not yet had his redshirt pulled but is 5-1 on the season - his lone loss coming to returning All-American Patrick McKee (8-4) at the UNI Open. 

Ayala's match against Pat McKee from earlier this season:

Unlock this video, live events, and more with a subscription!

Sign Up

Already a subscriber? Log In

At last year’s NCAA Tournament Iowa finished ahead of Penn State by 15.5 points, with 24.5 points coming from Spencer Lee’s performance. Our current NCAA projections have Penn State 10.5 points ahead of Iowa with Lee still in the projections. As the returning national champions, the loss of Spencer Lee will be a major challenge for Iowa to overcome. However, with eight other All-Americans in the starting lineup, the Hawkeyes will still be contenders to win a team title in March.

Along with the collegiate success, Spencer Lee had historic success in freestyle at both Cadet and Junior Worlds. Lee won a Cadet World title in 2014 and followed up with consecutive Junior World titles in 2015 and 2016. Lee has been vocal concerning his goal to win world and Olympic titles after his collegiate career. Those goals likely play into his decision to opt for surgery now, giving him the opportunity to be healthy in time to make a run at the 2024 Olympics.