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THE REAL DEAL

Spencer Lee is the present and future of Iowa wrestling

Iowa freshman 125-pounder Spencer Lee has his hand raised after he knocked off Nick Suriano of Rutgers, 5-1, in the national championship match on Saturday in Cleveland. Lee became Iowa’s 55th individual champion all-time. AP photo/David Dermer

To look at him, you wouldn’t immediately think most feared guy in a singlet. He stands 5-foot-3, wears specks and a grin, and loves all things Pokemon.

Yeah, that’s right. Pokemon. So much so that he entered Quicken Loans Arena to the Pokemon theme song Saturday night as more than 18,000 rabid wrestling fans waited with bated breath.

His opponent, Rutgers beast Nick Suriano, glided to the mat with Eminem blaring in the background. And here came Iowa freshman Spencer Lee to the smooth sounds of Pokemon.

That, right there, should tell you just how good Lee is, how confident he is in his own abilities. To rock out to Pokemon, you better be the best of the best, otherwise you’ll be mocked for a lifetime.

But Lee is the best, now and most likely for years to come. He was the crown jewel of the Hawkeyes’ 2017 recruiting class and, quite honestly, the most highly-anticipated incoming freshman in program history.

Iowa’s Spencer Lee (right) controls Rutgers’ Nick Suriano during the 125-pound national title match on Saturday. Lee outscored his foes 60-4 during the tournament. AP photo/David Dermer

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is saying something.

If there were any doubters, Lee turned them into believers against Suriano, who entered the 125-pound national championship bout with a 25-0 record and a tournament resume that included no points allowed.

Lee whipped him 5-1 in a match that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated. A takedown at the end of the first period, an escape in the second and another takedown in the third, and that was all she wrote.

Lee became Iowa’s first true-freshman national champion since Lincoln McIlravy in 1993 and he did it with swagger without ever giving even a whiff of cockiness.

His tournament included a pair of 18-0 technical fall wins, back-to-back pins in the quarterfinals and semifinals and then the seven-minute show against Suriano. Lee accumulated 27 team points, the most of any individual in the tournament. Spencer Lee University would have tied North Carolina for 20th in the team race. Want a little more perspective? He outscored 24th-place UNI by seven points and 45th-place Iowa State by 24.

Lee was robbed of one thing though. Penn State’s Bo Nickal, the national champ at 184 pounds, took home the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler award. Nickal turned in the moment of the tournament when he decked Ohio State’s Myles Martin in the title bout to clinch the team championship for the Nittany Lions, but he lagged well behind Lee in all-around tournament performances. Nickal accounted for 23 team points and recorded just one fall, two major decisions and two decision wins.

Nickal was good, no doubt about it. But Lee, who outscored his opponents 60-4, was on another level.

For me, Lee was must-see TV. And as good as he was against Suriano, it was his semifinal pin over four-time All-American and former national champion Nathan Tomasello of Ohio State that convinced me he’s simply on a different planet.

After splitting regular season meetings against Tomasello, Lee ditched the hefty knee brace that held him back only slightly prior to the start of the national tournament on Thursday. And against Tomasello, he was a machine. Lee led 8-2 when he locked up a cradle and got the fall.

But there was no celebration. No jumping into the arms of Hawkeyes’ associate head coach Terry Brands or pimping to the crowd. Lee simply walked back to the center of the circle, shook Tomasello’s hand, had his arm raised and walked off.

Lee, a three-time age-level freestyle world champion during his prep days, expected it. It was cold-blooded and a clear sign that nothing or no one was going to stop him.

And after he disposed of Suriano, Lee looked for his family and teammates to celebrate with. He comes across as a genuine individual and a leader that Iowa can ride for the next three years.

Speaking of Iowa, Tom Brands’ clan was the surprise third-place finisher behind Penn State and Ohio State. It was a solid result, but the Hawkeyes will never be satisfied with anything but the top of the mountain.

However, that perch belongs to Penn State, which crowned four champions and hoisted the team title for the seventh time in the last eight years. The problem Iowa and every other team in the country has is that the Nittany Lions have four or five Spencer Lees, individuals that run roughshod over the competition.

Can Iowa catch the freight train that Cael Sanderson has developed in Happy Valley? It won’t be easy, that’s for sure. But having Spencer Lee in the room won’t hurt recruiting and you better believe he’ll be an ambassador for the program.

If you bleed black and gold, that’s a pretty good place to start.

Could Lee eventually become Iowa’s first-ever four-time national champion? Let’s put it this way: if I was a national championship contender at 125 this season, I’d seriously think about bumping up to 133 a year from now.

He’s that good. He’s that special. And he’ll be that much fun to watch going forward.

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