Spencer Lee and David Taylor were named co-winners of 2024 John Smith Award winner as USA Wrestling’s Men’s Freestyle Wrestlers of the Year.
The award is named in honor of two-time Olympic champion and four-time World champion John Smith.
Lee joins a list of past Iowa legends to have won the John Smith Award that began in 1992: Terry and Tom Brands(1993), Joe Williams(2001 & 2002), and Bill Zadick(2006).
Lee capped off a great year in 2024 by winning the silver medal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris as the only American in the Olympic finals.
From USA Wrestling:
Lee finished off a tremendous season by winning a silver medal at 57 kg at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France in August. He powered to three straight wins to reach the finals, beating Wanhao Zou of China in the preliminaries, 3-2, then claiming two straight technical fall victories over Bekzat Almaz Uulu of Kyrgyzstan in the quarterfinals and Gulomjon Abdullaev of Uzbekistan in the semifinals. In the finals, he was edged by 2018 World champion Rei Higuchi of Japan, 4-2
He qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team with a victory at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials at Penn State in April. Lee advanced to the finals with victories over Nico Megaludis, 8-0 and Zane Richards, 5-3.
In the Championship Series, he swept 2021 World champion and 2020 Olympic bronze medalist Thomas Gilman in two straight matches, winning the first match 6-3, then scoring a fall in 5:58 in the second match.
Lee qualified himself and the United States for the Paris Games at the World Olympic Qualifier in Istanbul, Turkey in May. He won four straight matches, including three by technical fall, to earn the berth. His 10-0 technical fall victory over Rakhat Kalzhan of Kazakhstan in the Olympic Games qualifying match punched his ticket to Paris.
He also won a 2024 Senior Pan American Championships gold medal in February, winning all three matches by technical fall, including a 12-2 victory over Pedro Mejias Rodriguez in the finals.
Lee was a three-time NCAA Div. I champion for Iowa (2018, 2019, 2021) and a five-time All-American. He won two Dan Hodge Trophies as the nation’s best college wrestler while competing for the Hawkeyes.
He was dominant as an age-group wrestler, winning three career World titles, a U17 World gold in 2014, and U20 World golds in 2015 and 2016. A native of Murrysville, Pa., Lee was a three-time Pennsylvania state champion for Franklin Regional High School.
Congratulations to Spencer Lee for being named for the prestigious honor.
By winning the silver medal at the 2024 Olympics Lee has already qualified for the Best 2 of 3 Bouts at Final X in Newark, New Jersey on June 14.
The winner of Final X will represent Team USA at the 2025 World Freestyle Championships in Zagreb, Croatia on September 15-18.
Past John Smith Award Winners as Freestyle Wrestler of the Year
1993 – Terry and Tom Brands, Iowa City, Iowa,
2001 – Joe Williams, Iowa City, Iowa,
2002 – Joe Williams, Iowa City, Iowa
2006 – Bill Zadick, Colorado Springs, Colo.
2024 – Spencer Lee, Iowa City Iowa
It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.
Go Hawks!
