Former Hawkeye wrestling legend Spencer Lee began his journey for the gold medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics today, competing in the 57-kilogram weight class of the men’s freestyle wrestling event.

Round of 16: Zou Wanhao (China) — WIN, 3-2

Lee’s first match came against sixth-ranked Zou Wanhao of China, a bronze medalist at the 2018 U23 World Wrestling Championships who Lee already saw this year at the World Qualification Tournament in Istanbul. Although Lee won there, 10-9, Zou gave him his scrappiest and toughest fight in a while.

Today, Lee emerged to loud cheers from the crowd, which broke into “U-S-A” chants, as he took the mat. And after a warning from the official for too much hand play to start, Lee was quickly and clearly calm and focused, maintaining control and constantly hunting for offense.

The three-time NCAA champion at Iowa deflected a close slip from Zou before snagging his outside leg and remaining persistent toward a two-point takedown. With control from there, Lee attempted to turn into his signature gator-roll-esque move, in which he wraps up his opponents legs and rolls him around the mat for two points again and again — which Zou prevented nicely. So Lee was up three points two minutes into the match, taking that lead into the break as “U-S-A” chants continued.

In the second half, Zou got a bit more desperate, although Lee remained strong and repeatedly closer to two more points as he constantly dove at Zou’s leg. Still, Zou deflected, regaining control and maneuvering into holding the side of his back, so close to a two-point takedown, but Lee inched toward the outside of the mat and got off.

After a couple of slips and dives at Zou’s leg, Lee rode out the last minute, opting for defense as Zou got frantic for some luck in a last-minute miracle. Although Zou gained two small points with just seconds left, Lee remained strong and advanced with a 3-2 win.

Quarterfinals: Bekzat Almaz Uulu (Kyrgyzstan) — WIN, 12-2 (TF)

With a shot to advance to the semifinals on the line, Lee next saw Bekzat Almaz Uulu of Kyrgyzstan, who handled seeded wrestler Meirambek Kartbay of Kazakhstan in a 4-1 victory of his own first-round matchup just before Lee’s.

Louder cheers from the crowd, as well as more “U-S-A” chants, returned with Lee’s announcement for this one, and he was quick in getting scrappy with Almaz Uulu, who instead deflected a shot at his leg and earned a two-point takedown for an early 2-0 lead. But that was all the hope the latter wrestler would have for this one.

Lee jumped right back, earning a takedown of his own to tie the lead and then gain it, 4-2, as he locked in that gator roll previously mentioned. Lee’s strength on the lower half of the body was unmatched from there, dominating Almaz Uulu when both got down onto the mat and quickly gathering four more points with a string of takedowns.

With just under a minute left in the first half, Lee continued to move from his takedowns into turns, demonstrating the sheer dominance he’s known for, ultimately earning the tech fall and ending this one in the blink of an eye, 12-2, as he advances to the semifinals later this morning.

Semifinals: Gulomjon Abdullaev (Uzbekistan) — WIN, 14-4 (TF)

Up next for the Murrysville, Pennsylvania, native came seventh-seeded Gulomjon Abdullaev of Uzbekistan, who strengthened his own path to the semifinals with comfortable wins of 11-4 over Aliabbas Rzazade of Azerbaijan in the first round and 12-5 over second-seeded Arsen Harutyunyan of Armenia in the second.

After winning gold at the 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games and silver at the 2022 Yasar Dogu Tournament, both in Turkey, Abdullaev earned his spot in this year’s Olympic Games upon a successful run through the 2024 Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament.

There was a small scuffle with hands to start, which Lee apologized to Abdullaev for, seemingly hitting him hard in the head while trying to gain control. After that, Lee jumped right back into his aggressive search for a move. Maneuvering around every dive Abdullaev made, Lee found a very fast and efficient takedown on the leg to go up, 2-0.

After that, Abdullaev did not even have much chance to attack as a second Lee takedown added two more before he rolled Abdullaev around on the mat with force. Within the blink of an eye, it looked like a 12-0 technical fall win in favor of Lee, but a challenge reversed it to 10-4 with a four-point sequence for Abdullaev in the mix. Still, Lee was persistent with another takedown right away and a subsequent turn to win anyway and advance to the final tomorrow.

Final: Rei Higuchi (Japan) — LOSS, 4-2

Although Lee was in at least with a silver medal for the U.S., he earned a shot at that prized gold medal he’s always wanted at 12:35 p.m. CT on Friday as he took on the strong and skilled top-seeded wrestler at 57 kilograms in Rei Higuchi of Japan.

Higuchi, to many, was the favorite to win gold entering the Olympics, as the 28-year-old carries experience upon winning silver in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and both gold and silver at the World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

After a warning for some hand play to start, both Higuchi and Lee defined the first half with good defense. Higuchi attempted to use his speed to shoot at Lee’s leg, which Lee frequently denied before he latched onto Higuchi’s left arm. Still, he got nothing out of that either.

Lee earned his 2-0 lead at half with two push-out points, one of which coming during what’s like a shot clock in freestyle wrestling, avoiding a penalty point to Higuchi with the score.

A toss up at the beginning of the second half resulted in a scramble for control, which led to Higuchi on top for two points and the tie-breaking win should the 2-2 score run out to the end. Higuchi grounded himself twice as Lee pushed twice more for push-out points, keeping this one deadlocked at two apiece.

Lee defended a Higuchi takedown by spinning around and out, giving him 30 seconds left to score, his desperation for a point surrendering him to a two-point takedown for Higuchi to seal it, 4-2.

With that, Higuchi will leave Paris with a gold medal for Japan while Lee’s storied journey concludes — for now — in a silver medal for the U.S.

This is a developing story. Check back here for updates.