ANN ARBOR — Iowa men’s wrestler Spencer Lee dominated his way through the 125-pound bracket en route to his third Big Ten title Sunday night at the Crisler Center.

The Hawkeyes finished second in the team standings with 134.5 points, trailing behind Penn State’s 147.

Iowa had one more wrestler on top of the podium, as 141-pound Real Woods claimed a Big Ten title in his tournament debut against Nebraska’s No. 3 seed Brock Hardy, 2-1. Hawkeye 165-pounder and No. 3 seed Patrick Kennedy fell in the championship match to Wisconsin’s No. 1 seed Dean Hamiti, 9-6.

Lee defeated Nebraska’s No. 2 seed Liam Cronin in the finals, 8-2, for his ninth-straight victory in the Big Ten Tournament. The win further solidified the Big Ten Wrestler of the Year’s dominance ahead of the NCAA Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma, from March 16-18.

“[Cronin] had a good game plan,” Lee said at a media availability session following his championship victory. “He was pushing a lot, pushing the pace. He pushed me around a little bit and forced things. He was ready to go, and I respect him a lot. I’m looking forward to wrestling him at nationals two weeks from now.”

Lee received a No. 1 seed at the conference tournament for an automatic first-round bye. He kicked off the quarterfinals for the Hawkeyes with a 17-0 tech fall in five minutes over Michigan’s No. 9 seed Jack Medley.

In the semifinals, he cruised to a 20-2 tech fall victory in the second period over Minnesota’s No. 5 seed Patrick McKee. When the pair faced each other in the regular season, Lee won, 7-1 — his smallest margin of victory this season.

Although Lee makes it look easy on the mat, his wrestling journey has been filled with adversity.

The Franklin Regional High School alum tore his right ACL a few weeks before the Pennsylvania high school state wrestling championships as a senior in 2017. At the time, Lee had surgery to repair the knee.

In the 125-pound NCAA Championship bout in 2019, Lee reinjured his right ACL but managed to beat Virginia’s Jack Mueller, 5-0, to clinch his second NCAA title.

Lee opted out of a second surgery and wrestled through the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons with one healthy ACL.

In the 2021 Big Ten Championship match against Purdue’s Devin Schroder, Lee tore his left ACL. He battled through the pain and earned a 21-5 technical fall to claim his second Big Ten championship.

Lee went on to win every match at the 2021 NCAA Championships without healthy ACLs, shutting out Arizona State’s Brandon Courtney, 7-0, for his third NCAA crown.

After going 3-0 to begin the 2021-22 season, Lee underwent season-ending surgery to repair both knees.

After almost 11 months of rehab, Lee made his season debut against Iowa State on Dec. 4, 2022. He trotted out to the mat in Carver-Hawkeye Arena to the tune of “We Will Rock You” by Queen and then trounced Corey Cabanban via a major decision, 16-5, in the Hawkeyes’ 18-15 victory over the Cyclones.

Lee continued to dominate every opponent following his season debut, collecting eight falls in a combined 14:22, four tech falls, and two major decisions.

But Lee said after his most recent conference championship he has a lot to work on and still wants to accomplish more in the Black and Gold singlet. Lee added that he felt he was moving backward too often against Cronin.

“In my head, I kept telling myself, ‘You have to keep scoring Spencer, you have to keep scoring,’ and I don’t think I did a good enough job with that,” Lee said. “For me, as long as I’m moving my hands and feet, I should be scoring. You have to make up your mind, and you have to go for it. You have to circle back to the center of the mat and get your offense going.”

The three-time national champion heads to the NCAA Championships on a 55-match win streak — the eighth-longest stretch in program history.

Lee would be the first in Iowa wrestling history and only the fifth-ever collegiate grappler to win four individual NCAA titles.

“What’s in the past is in the past,” Lee said.  “One thing we always say is, ‘On to the next.’ The NCAAs are the next thing. The practices leading up to NCAAs, we need to get back to getting healthy, strong, the whole team and everyone. Let’s get ready for a strong NCAA tournament.”