Iowa senior, Franklin Regional grad Spencer Lee named nation's top wrestler

While he is hyper-focused on winning, Spencer Lee doesn’t always envision a final score when he faces opponents on the wrestling mat. He just competes, and his margin slowly expands.

Lee’s matches often end in one-sided fashion because he has a way of toying with opponents and piling on bonus points, making him one of the most watched wrestlers in the nation.

Call his latest in a long line of career accomplishments, well, another bonus.

The popular senior wrestler from Iowa was awarded the Dan Hodge Trophy for the second straight year — the sport’s answer to the Heisman — as he shared the title of the country’s most dominant wrestler with Minnesota junior heavyweight Gable Stevenson.

Lee, a shifty 125-pounder out of Franklin Regional, won this third NCAA championship, outscoring five opponents at nationals 59-8 while competing with two torn ACLs.

He still finished 12-0 for the season, scored bonus points in 11 matches, with five first-period falls, and helped lead Iowa to the team national title.

All told, Lee had 141 points to 15 for his opponents. His 91.6 bonus-point percentage was tops in the nation.

On winning the Hodge again, Lee said: “It’s humbling.”

He ended the season on a 35-match winning streak.

“I know my team needed me to bring a title back home,” Lee said in a videoconference Monday. “So that was my main priority. I wasn’t thinking about bonus (points) every match.

“I am happy to have done what I did and honored to have won.”

Lee went 18-0 last year but could not compete for a national title because the season was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic.

“It was clear as a bell, clear as day, clear as light, clear as whatever you want to say,” Iowa coach Tom Brands said. “Roll up all the criteria into a little ball, put a name on that ball: Spencer Lee, and whatever he is about. That is what this award represents.”

Lee announced recently he will not compete at the Olympic Trials as he recovers from his latest ACL tear, which occurred in his left knee.

After Lee won overwhelmingly in a fan vote, the Hodge committee overrode the vote to select co-winners.

Stevenson, who will compete at the Olympic Trials, went 17-0 and earned bonus points in 88% of his matches.

Other national champions David Carr of Iowa State (157) and Penn State’s Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) also received first-place votes.