In Spencer Lee’s trip to Japan after a pin cut his journey for a fourth NCAA title short, his mind was elsewhere. He wanted nothing to do with wrestling.
When he sat in on a local practice, though, the club’s wrestlers convinced him to throw his shoes on — and suddenly, everyone in every weight class wanted a spar with him. But Lee wanted one with their World Champion coach, Yuki Takahashi, whom Lee knew beat former Hawkeye and Olympic bronze medalist Thomas Gilman for the world title in 2017.
Takahashi in turn wanted to see Lee in a quick round with his protege Masanosuke Ono, entirely unknown to the wrestling world.
“No, he’s better than me,” Takahashi told Lee.
“No, you’re a World Champion,” Lee responded. “He’s not better than you.”
“No, no, no. He’s better,” Takahashi said, pointing to Ono.
So Ono and Lee went at it for a three-minute round.
“I remember going, ‘That guy was pretty dang good,’” Lee said at media availability on Feb. 12. “I always wanted the opportunity to wrestle him in a real match.”
Health and financing make it difficult to bring big name professional freestyle wrestlers on for big cards. But when Lee got the call for a matchup back in Iowa with Ono, now a World Champion himself, he gave an immediate yes.
It’s been two years since Iowa wrestling fans have heard the blare of Queen’s “We Will Rock You” as Lee adjusts his singlet and strolls smileless to the mat inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena prior to his 125-pound match.
Two years later, fans might hear it again — and back in Iowa nonetheless, Lee set to take on Japanese Olympic prospect Masanosuke Ono at Xtream Arena in Coralville on Feb. 26.
It’s common for Iowa wrestlers to opt for classic rock like 285-pounder Ben Kueter’s “Rooster” by Alice in Chains or even hype rap music like 184-pounder Gabe Arnold’s “A Milli” by Lil Wayne for their walk-out songs.
But the wrestler from Murrysville, Pennsylvania, chose a slightly different approach for the 2018 NCAA championships, opting for the iconic “Pokémon Theme” that produced a first-place finish and kicked off a historic postseason wrestling career.
An avid Pokémon fan, the lyrics still ring true — “I want to be the very best, like no one ever was,” encapsulating his approach on the mat and ambition for more.
With two Dan Hodge trophy wins, three national titles, three Big Ten titles, and five All-American nods, Lee cemented himself as one of the greatest collegiate wrestlers of all time. But with a 2021 team championship to add to it, Lee has always been about more than himself.
“You can’t win a team title with just one guy,” he said after the event. “Even if I pinned every single opponent, the most I can score is 30 points … You have to win it with a team. That’s all that matters. It takes a team effort.”
Indeed, since his illustrious career as a Hawkeye, Lee has continued his prowess on the mat in international competition. Lee became the 23rd Hawkeye men’s wrestler to compete on the world’s biggest stage upon qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Lee captured the silver medal with commanding wins over the world’s best 57-kilogram grapplers in Zou Wanhao of China, Bekzat Almaz Uulu of Kyrgyzstan, and Gulomjon Abdullaev of Uzbekistan before losing to Rei Higuchi of Japan in the final match.
Even then — a silver medal representative of his storied career in both black and gold and red, white, and blue singlets — nothing sat right. Dissatisfaction swelled.
“I’m a guy who believes more in wins and losses,” Lee said after the match, according to USA TODAY. “It’s more about effort, and I don’t think I put a lot of effort in that match, so I didn’t deserve to win today.
“First thing I thought of was to take [the silver medal] off,” he continued. “I don’t think there’ll ever be a perspective where I think it’s good. Twenty years from now, you try and name Olympic silver medalists. I bet you can’t. It’s because no one cares.”
But he does.
Still training and competing on the international stage, Lee kicked off 2025 with a gold medal at the Zagreb Open in Croatia, winning the men’s 57-kilogram freestyle bracket.
The open was the first Ranking Series tournament of the year, supervised by United World Wrestling and awarding wrestlers points for the world rankings at the end of the year. So, it was the first step toward the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, too.
“I think that competing more is to my benefit as always,” Lee said. “We’ve always agreed with that.”
The next step hits much closer to home: Lee matching up against Ono at Xtream Arena in Coralville on Feb. 26.
With the 59.5-kilogram matchup the main event of a stacked card of wrestling for FloWrestling Night in America, Lee remains a coveted talent in the wrestling world.
“He’s on the Mount Rushmore [of Iowa wrestling] for sure,” FloSports Content Director Christian Pyles told The Daily Iowan. “If you’re one of the biggest draws … it’s an incredible statement. And Spencer Lee was not only the flag carrier for the Iowa Hawkeyes wrestling program when he was there … Now he’s the flag carrier for USA Wrestling.”
That’s especially when he’s pitted against Ono, a 21-year-old, 61-kilogram wrestler from Matsue City, Japan, with a bright future and stellar 2024 season — crowned the Japanese National Champion in May, U20 World Champion in September, and World Champion in October.
“I’m the one that wanted this match,” Lee said. “He’s hyped right now. He just dominated everybody. As a competitor, I want to wrestle the best guys in the world … I thought it’d be awesome for fans to watch. Hopefully, someone can go out there and give him a match.”
Ono told Pyles he would be training in the U.S. at Penn State until March, so Pyles jumped on the chance to get him in for an event. Lee was the first name that came to mind. When he proposed the match to Lee, Lee was immediately all in.
“It sets the stage not just for 2028 but potentially the World Championships in 2027,” Pyles said. “These two look to be on parallel legendary trajectories … That’s just the potential budding of an incredible rivalry with two wrestlers with seemingly limitless speed, power, and technical ability.”
Lee’s win-or-go-home mindset has broadened his name on the national and international stage, making ripples in the wrestling world around him.
Alex Smith, an Iowa City native and long-time Hawkeye wrestling fan as a result, just recently made the move back to his hometown to teach in the University of Iowa Political Science Department. Lee’s success harkens Smith back to visits from the likes of Hawkeye national champion Mark Ironside to his childhood wrestling camps, making Lee an impactful name in the Iowa City community, too.
“With the dominance of Penn State, it’s really big to have a wrestler like Spencer Lee who not only represents Iowa but also who grew up in Pennsylvania,” Smith said. “Lee came to Iowa specifically because he knows what Iowa wrestling is and its tradition and history … He’s one of the bigger names in the wrestling world right now and definitely in American wrestling.”
And with that, he’s inspiring the next generation. For example, Bo Bassett’s journey to the top-ranked wrestling recruit in the class of 2026 included an adoration of Lee.
The 144-pounder from Johnstown, Pennsylvania — who will be in attendance for the event on Wednesday — even caught a picture with Lee years ago, the photo resurfacing now that he’s committed to join the Hawkeyes.
“The definition of Spencer Lee in high school — that dude was locked in,” Bassett told FloWrestling. “He did everything hard. He trained the right way. He lived the right way, and he was a great role model for me. To see someone in my area from the same club doing what he did, I knew that it was possible.”