By Gary Abbott
USA Wrestling

PARIS, France – Competing in his first Olympics, Spencer Lee has blasted his way into the gold-medal finals at 57 kg in men’s freestyle at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on Thursday at Champ-de-Mars Arena.

Lee got his offense rolling in the semifinals, securing a 14-4 technical fall over No. 7 seed Gulomjon Abduallaev of Uzbekistan. Lee jumped to a huge early lead, with two takedowns, followed by two turns for an 8-0 lead. In an active exchange, officials gave Lee four points for a 12-0 technical fall. However, a challenge led to officials giving Abdullaev four points and Lee two, making it 10-4. Lee quickly scored a takedown and turn to end it at 14-4.

In the finals, Lee will battle Rei Higuchi of Japan, a 2022 World champion and 2023 World bronze medalist who won a silver medal in the 2016 Olympic Games.

Lee won his first two matches on Thursday morning, stopping Wanhao Zou of China, 3-2, then getting a 12-2 technical fall over Bekzat Almaz Uulu of Kyrgyzstan.

Lee was a three-time NCAA champion for Iowa and won three age-group World titles for the United States, two at the U17 level and one at the U20 level. He is originally from Murrysville, Pa., where he starred for Franklin Regional High School.

The USA also had two athletes qualify for bronze medal matches after losing their semifinal matches, two-time Olympic medalist and three-time World champion Helen Maroulis at 57 kg in women’s freestyle, plus Aaron Brooks at 86 kg in men’s freestyle.

Maroulis was defeated in the semifinal by No. 1 seed and three-time World champion Tsugumi Sakurai of Japan, 10-4. Maroulis scored the first takedown, but Sakurai answered with a four-point counter to lead 4-2 at the break. In the second period, Sakurai scored a takedown and turn to lead 8-2, then added another takedown for a 10-2 lead. Maroulis answered with a two-point reversal for the final 10-4 score.

Sakurai won her first World title at 55 kg in 2021, then claimed the next two at 57 kg. Sakurai also beat Maroulis in the 2022 World Championships and the 2023 World Championships.

Maroulis is attempting to become the first U.S. woman to win three Olympic medals. She will compete on Friday night in a bronze medal match against the winner of the repechage bout between Hannah Taylor of Canada and Luisa Valverde of Ecuador.

Maroulis was a four-time WCWA college national champion, winning three for Simon Fraser and one for Missouri Baptist. She is a native of Rockville, Md.

Brooks, competing on a U.S. Senior World-level team for the first time, lost a heartbreaking 4-3 decision to No. 5 seed Magomed Ramazanov of Bulgaria in the semifinals. Brooks had the lead in the first period, 3-0, with a shot clock point and a double leg takedown. Ramazanov scored a spin behind takedown in the second period to close it to 3-2. In the final seconds of the match, with Brooks in on a leg attack, Ramazanov scored a slick counter exposure and beats Brooks, 4-3

Ramazanov qualified through the World Olympic Qualifier in Istanbul, and just started wrestling for Bulgaria after competing for Russia most of his career.

Brooks will face the winner of the repechage match between Alexander Moore of Canada and Javrail Shapiev of Uzbekistan.

Brooks, a four-time NCAA champion for Penn State, has won age-group World titles at the U20 and U23 levels. He hails from Hagerstown, Md.

Thursday night marked the completion of the Greco-Roman competition for the Olympic Games, with the medal matches at 67 kg and 87 kg. Champions on the final night were Saeid Esmaeili of Iran (67 kg) and Semen Novikov of Bulgaria (87 kg). No U.S. athletes competed on Thursday. The final U.S. athlete to receive a placement was Payton Jacobson, who finished 16th at 87 kg,

The tournament continues on Friday morning at 11:00 a.m. local time, with the Group 4 repechage, as well as the start of competition for Group 5, Kyle Dake (74 kg MFS). Mason Parris (125 kg MFS), and Kayla Miracle (62 kg WFS). Paris is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time zone. All of the action is live on Peacock.

OLYMPIC GAMES PARIS 2024

At Paris, France

Group 4 finals pairings

Men’s Freestyle 57 kg - Rei Higuchi (Japan) vs. Spencer Lee (United States)

Men’s Freestyle 86 kg - Magomed Ramazanov (Bulgaria) vs. Hassan Yazdani (Iran)

Women’s Freestyle 57 kg - Tsugumi Sakurai (Japan) vs. Anastasia Nichita (Moldova)

Group 4 semifinal results

Men’s Freestyle 57 kg

Rei Higuchi (Japan) tech fall Aman Sehrawat (India) , 10-0

Spencer Lee (United States) tech fall Gulomjon Abdullaev (Uzbekistan), 14-4

Men’s Freestyle 86 kg

Magomed Ramazanov (Bulgaria) dec. Aaron Brooks (United States), 4-3

Hassan Yazdani (Iran) dec. Myles Amine (San Marino), 7-1

Women’s Freestyle  57 kg

Tsugumi Sakurai (Japan) dec. Helen Maroulis (United States), 10-4

Anastasia Nichita (Moldova) pin Kexin Hong (China), 1:37

Group 4 U.S. men’s freestyle results

57 kg – Spencer Lee, Iowa City, Iowa (Titan Mercury WC/Hawkeye WC), in gold-medal bout

WIN Wanhao Zou (China), 3-2

WIN Bekzat Almaz Uulu (Kyrgyzstan), tech fall 12-2

WIN Gulomjon Abdullaev (Uzbekistan), tech fall 14-4

Gold-Medal finals – Vs. Rei Higuchi (Japan)

86 kg – Aaron Brooks, Hagerstown, Md. (Titan Mercury WC/Nittany Lion WC), in bronze-medal bout

WIN Azamat Dauletbekov (Kazakhstan), 4-3

WIN Hayato Ishiguro (Japan), tech fall 11-1

LOSS Magomed Ramazanov (Bulgaria), 4-3

Bronze Medal Bout – Vs. winner of Alexander Moore (Canada) vs. Javrail Shapiev (Uzbekistan)

Group 4 women’s freestyle results

57 kg – Helen Maroulis, Rockville, Md. (Sunkist Kids), in bronze-medal bout

WIN Anshu (India), 7-2

WIN Alina Hrushyna Akobiia (Ukraine), 7-4

LOSS Tsugumi Sakurai (Japan), 10-4

Bronze Medal Bout – Vs. winner of Hannah Taylor (Canada) vs. Luisa Valverde (Ecuador)

Group 3 final results

Greco-Roman 67 kg

Gold -. Saeid Esmaeili (Iran)

Silver - Parviz Nasibov (Ukraine)

Bronze – Hasrat Jafarov (Azerbaijan)

Bronze - Luis Orta Sanchez (Cuba)

5th - Amantur Ismailov (Kyrgyzstan)

5th - Slavik Galstyan (Armenia)

7th - Valentin Petic (Moldova)

8th - Mamadassa Sylla (France)

9th - Andres Montano Arroyo (Ecuador)

10th - Mate Nemes (Serbia)

Gold -. Saeid Esmaeili (Iran) dec. Parviz Nasibov (Ukraine), 6-5

Bronze – Hasrat Jafarov (Azerbaijan) tech fall Amantur Ismailov (Kyrgyzstan), 8-0

Bronze - Luis Orta Sanchez (Cuba) dec. Slavik Galstyan (Armenia), 7-0

Greco-Roman 87 kg

Gold - Semen Novikov (Bulgaria)

Silver - Alireza Mohmadipiani (Iran)

Bronze – Zhan Beleniuk (Ukraine)

Bronze - Turpal Bisultanov (Denmark)

5th - Arkadiusz Kulynycz (Poland)

5th - David Losonczi (Hungary)

7th - Nursultan Tursynov (Kazakhstan)

8th - Aleksandr Komarov (Serbia)

9th - Lasha Gobadze (Georgia)

10th - Ali Cengiz (Turkey)

Gold - Semen Novikov (Bulgaria) dec. Alireza Mohmadipiani (Iran), 7-0

Bronze – Zhan Beleniuk (Ukraine) dec. Arkadiusz Kulynycz (Poland), 3-1

Bronze - Turpal Bisultanov (Denmark) dec. David Losonczi (Hungary), 2-1

Women’s Freestyle 53 kg

Gold - Lucia Yepez Guzman (Ecuador) vs. Akari Fujinami (Japan)

Bronze – Annika Wendle (Germany) vs. Hyogyong Choe (North Korea)

Bronze - Qianyu Pang (China) vs. Khulan Batkhuyag (Mongolia)

Group 3 U.S. women’s freestyle results

53 kg – Dom Parrish, Corvallis, Ore. (Sunkist Kids/Beaver Dam RTC), eliminated

LOSS Akari Fujinami (Japan), pin 2:05

LOSS Khulan Batkhuyag (Mongolia), pin 4:35

Group 3 U.S. Greco-Roman results

87 kg – Payton Jacobson, Elkhorn, Wis. (Sunkist Kids), 16th place

LOSS Aleksandr Komarov (Serbia), tech fall, 10-0