Spencer out of OTT
- Thread starter McScoreley
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Iowa wrestler Spencer Lee won't compete at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team Trials due to ACL injuries
Spencer Lee is going to wait to fully chase his Olympic dreams.
www.hawkcentral.com
This answers one question but raises a few more. Hopefully the course of action he takes returns him to 100% physically and mentally.
Real Bummer. I think a 100% Spencer represents USA for Gold with a great chance at a medal, but a ACL-less Spencer this fresh off the injury wouldn't even qualify. Terrible timing for the kid. The good news is with the Covid delay to the games, the next go around is only 3 years away. He might win some world events in the meantime as well.
He seems to forgo freestyle for folk with every decision? I also don't see anything about surgery in that post? More questions than before it seems like
He has all of post college to wrestle Free. Our guys also prioritized folk in college when there were team implications. I also imagine he won't announce surgery but it's pretty obvious he is planning for it.
I can honestly say he would look much better in Red, White, and Blue!!
I feel like this sounds like a criticism, but I swear it isn't...
When was the last time Spencer was 100%? Junior year of HS?
When was the last time Spencer was 100%? Junior year of HS?
He's certainly going to have to wrestle better than he has since moving to Happy Valley.Next man up.
I think he makes the team if Lee competes or not.Next man up.
No doubt. Like Nick Lee and Starocci from Big Tens to when it mattered
Keep going don't let us stop you lol. Just kidding. The dynamics with iowa fans and gillman being at penn state is surprising though
I'll be cheering for all the NLWC guys. The winner at trials though, is my guy at the Olympics. NLWC, then USA!
In all honesty--I can sympathize with you Hawk fans. Last year was supposed to be your year of triumph, with this year the icing on top. Now, with Covid and all the injury craziness, things have to be pretty bittersweet for you guys. I continue to look forward to the day(s) Spencer wears the Red, White & Blue--it will come, I'm pretty confident.
This is disappointing but not unexpected. I think we have to assume he will be in for the 2024 Olympics, and I think it becomes more likely that he has the surgeries he needs now to fix everything and takes a RS year next year, then has a year of folk to get his 4 NCAAs in 2022-23 then move into freestyle training leading up to the 24 Olympic trials. It seems like a logical progression and timeline, but we'll see what he decides.
Good luck and good health to him regardless. Despite flying the coop from PA for Iowa, he's a good kid and a pleasure to watch wrestle.
Good luck and good health to him regardless. Despite flying the coop from PA for Iowa, he's a good kid and a pleasure to watch wrestle.
Dude, dont be such a butthorn.
I'm sure the majority of PSU fans will say or feel something like this for a year. And most all Hawk fans will not. Being a 4 time NCAA champ is rare company is this sport. You already know how I selfishly feel!
If Lee is going to have surgery to repair his knees, does he have both done at the same time or does he stagger the surgeries?
That's a shame because even with no ACLs he had a shot of winning, and I'd have loved to see him go against Gilman. But if he won, then what? Is he really winning an Olympics gold on no ACLs? Getting surgery/surgeries seems like the smarter long-term move, given that he's got two knees and it'll take time to heal up both in time for next season. There'll be another Olympic cycle, and only three years away instead of four.
A good friend of mine blew out both knees at the same time after he overshot a huge jump on his dirtbike. They gave him the choice. Uni-lateral or bi-lateral surgery. He chose both at the same time(big cost savings he said). It was a tough year but he made it out ok somehow.
Spencer has a great support team around him. I'm sure he will prevail! He is one tough human inside and out.
That doesn't seem like a real possibility with Spencer, who obviously places tremendous value on being a Hawkeye.
He could probably do a Snyder-esque light season (big duals and post-season only) next year if he's healthy enough or take his redshirt if needed and do a full season in 2022-2023. Neither would really present a risk for a 2024 Olympic bid.
Wait a second. They didn’t get to win NCAA last year, but they will have a quite good chance to win it next year. Seems to me they lost very little.
Vincenzo and Mark Hall lost their chance to compete in ncaa and never got it back.
I‘d say we lost more than they did.
Having said that, I want to be a good sport and express my sympathy.
The kid is the ultimate team player, I suspect that is why he never got surgery after the 2019 Finals since 2020 was when it was looking good for Iowa to contend and surgery could complicate his recovery time. (That and Senior Nationals was in December)
I'd be shocked if he agrees to anything that would cause him to have to redshirt in 2022 and the team to lose his points at next NCAAs. One way or another, he's going out with Iowa's next crop of seniors.
I'd be shocked if he agrees to anything that would cause him to have to redshirt in 2022 and the team to lose his points at next NCAAs. One way or another, he's going out with Iowa's next crop of seniors.
I wasn’t trying to draw a comparison; and I think that Spencer missing Olympic trials is a pretty big blow to the hopes of most Iowa fans, at least in the short term.
Absolutely. Especially those of us who follow freestyle closely. Big kick in the nuts when I got the text his knee was wrecked. Life is brutal sometimes
Spencer shirting is a win-win-win. He recovers, he keeps his shot at being a 4x champ, and we win the title.
But seriously: 4x champs don't grow on trees. He's not going to punt on that just because the Olympics are three years away. Especially when he still has his shirt available.
Yes, labrum. And let’s not forget unconfirmed reports on the Hawkeye board about a rumored “mystery illness” (Mono, Lymes Disease, etc) that was getting bandied about around the time he was losing to Bresser, Tomasello and Rivera. Lots of doom and gloom postings from Goblin and the “insiders”.
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I'm no freestyle expert, but is (even healthy) Spencer Lee as dominant in freestyle as folkstyle?
So much of his success seems based on his rides, turns, and ability to get falls and backpoints. Doesn't that have a limited transfer to freestyle? How often did Jim Gibbons tell us that Spencer spent 85% of his college mat time in the top position?
So much of his success seems based on his rides, turns, and ability to get falls and backpoints. Doesn't that have a limited transfer to freestyle? How often did Jim Gibbons tell us that Spencer spent 85% of his college mat time in the top position?
I personally think it transfers right nicely. Few wrestlers attempt turns as quickly after a takedown as Spencer, and that means back exposure in freestyle. If he was riding just to ride, I wouldn't feel this way.
