Lee reaches first Olympic final; Brooks & Maroulis shoot for bronze

Photo: Spencer Lee showed his focus as he prepared to eventually beat Gulomjon Abdullaev in the Olympic semifinals at 57 kilograms. He will look to become USA’s first men’s freestyle wrestler to win gold in these Games on Friday evening.

By Tristan Warner

PARIS – There were plenty of highs and lows for Team USA on Thursday at Champ de Mars Arena, where men’s freestyle wrestling commenced. Spencer Lee headlined the day for Team USA, posting three victors and punching his ticket to Friday’s finals at 57 kilograms.

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WIN Publisher Bryan Van Kley (left) and Assistant Editor Tristan Warner are in Paris all week covering the Olympics. Click on the photo to view today’s video recap.

Americans Aaron Brooks, the newcomer on the international Senior level who won four NCAA titles and a Hodge Trophy at Penn State, and Helen Maroulis, the 2016 Olympic gold medalist, each went 2-1 on the day and will wrestle for bronze on Friday evening.

Dom Parrish, who was in action during this morning’s repechage competition at 53 kilograms, was pinned by Mongolia’s Khulan Batkhyag and eliminated from bronze medal contention.

Lee gains momentum, increases output

Competing in his first Olympics, the former Iowa Hawkeye and three-time NCAA champion opened up with a narrow 3-2 victory over Chinese opponent Wanhao Zao, the same opponent he defeated by a 10-9 margin at the Last Chance Qualifier in Turkey to earn his Olympic bid.

Spencer Lee outscored three foes, 29-8, on Day 4 of Olympic wrestling competition. (Justin Hoch photo)

“I think I wrestled alright, and I was composed and wrestled smart,” Lee reflected. “I did let a little of the pressure of the Olympic Games get to me. I need to open up a little more and be a little smarter. Ultimately, I think I wrestled three pretty smart matches.”

From there, Lee was dominant, seemingly scoring takedowns at will and transitioning to turns early and often, as the Pennsylvania native earned a decisive 12-2 technical fall over quarterfinal opponent Bekzat Uulu (Kyrgyzstan) and following it up with a 14-4 technical fall over semifinal foe Gulomjon Abdullaev (Uzbekistan), a 2023 NAIA champion from Menlo College in California.

“This is a big stage. I’ve always thought every tournament is the biggest tournament,” Lee said. “So, I was joking with the coaches a little bit, like ‘this is the Olympics, right?’ I just didn’t feel like it was different than any other tournament. I just wish I would have wrestled like that (more wide open), but that’s okay.”

Lee’s coach and Hawkeyes frontman Tom Brands was encouraged to see his prized lightweight performing on an international stage.

“I’m excited,” Brands said. “Tomorrow is a big day…onward. He got rattled in some situation and persevered. The Japanese wrestler has a level of confidence that’s high. We have to be ready to go tomorrow.”

“I kept telling him we got another one tomorrow. Be who you are and be the best you can be. Go do what you do best. One more, one more, one more.”

Lee putting on a show for French family

A widely publicized story leading up to the Paris Olympics was Spencer Lee’s French heritage. His mother, Cathy, was a French Olympic alternate, and Spencer’s parents met in France.

As Spencer’s extended family, including his mom’s mother, his grandmother, watch him wrestle in person for the first time, the emotions are poignant for both parties.

“This is in my mother’s home country, which is really cool,” Lee mentioned. “I love France. I’m really excited tomorrow to do my best. My grandma is a very, very proud woman right now. I’m very happy to go up and talk to her in a little bit, and then go do my job and cut weight tonight and get ready for my toughest opponent.”

Brooks, Maroulis will wrestle for bronze Friday evening

Thursday’s evening session was a carousel of emotions for the Americans in attendance at Champ de Mars Arena as well as those watching stateside as the thrill of Lee’s dominating semifinal victory was quelled because of losses to Aaron Brooks and Helen Maroulis.

Aaron Brooks opened his first Olympics by upsetting the No. 1 seed, but came up short when he gave up a takedown in the final seconds of his semifinal bout. (Justin Hoch photo)

Brooks got off to a strong start, outlasting top-seeded Azamat Dauletbekov (Kazakhstan), 4-3, in the opening round before plowing through Japan’s Hayato Ishugiro via 11-1 tech. fall in the quarters.

The Hagerstown, Md. native led No. 5 seed Magomed Ramazanov (Bulgaria) by a 3-0 decision at the halfway point, but surrendered a takedown with just over a minute remaining in the match. Brooks successfully and painstakingly defended a wickedly devastating bow-and-arrow attempt from his Bulgarian opponent, but appeared to tweak his knee in the process.

On the restart, Brooks dove in on an ankle and contently held on as the final seconds ticked away but was crotch locked and exposed with three seconds left on the clock, giving Ramazanov a nail-biting 4-3 victory.

Helen Maroulis hopes to become the first American woman to claim a bronze medal in Friday’s medal matches. (Justin Hoch photo)

Maroulis was upended by top-seeded Tsugumi Sakurai, a three-time defending World champion, by a 10-4 decision.

Despite scoring the first takedown, Sakurai used a four-point move to take a 4-2 lead at the break and never looked back, scoring two more takedowns and a turn to take down America’s first Olympic gold medalist in women’s wrestling by a 10-4 margin.

Brooks and Maroulis will both wrestle for a bronze medal during Friday’s evening session at 7:30 PM local time / 1:30 PM ET.

Dake, Parris, Miracle receive draws for Friday’s action

Kyle Dake, the four-time World champion and 2020 Olympic bronze medalist, earned the No. 1 seed and will wrestle Venezuela’s Anthony Montero Chirinos in the preliminary round Friday morning.

Mason Parris, the 2023 World bronze medalist who won an NCAA title and Hodge Trophy for Michigan, will wrestle Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur of Mongolia in his Olympic debut. Munkhtur is a two-time World silver medalist.

Lastly, Kayla Miracle, the No. 8 seed, will face Turkey’s Nesrin Bas. Miracle is representing Team USA in her second Olympic Games.

Day 4 Highlights

Men’s Freestyle

57k Spencer Lee

R16 – dec. Wanhao Zou (China), 3-2 — In a rematch of the bout that Lee won 10-9 last May to qualify the weight for Team USA, the former three-time NCAA champ from Iowa scored all his points midway through the first period when Lee scored a takedown about the same time Zou was giving up a passivity point. The Chinese wrestler scored both of his points on pushouts in the final 38 seconds.

Quarterfinals — won by TF over Meirambek Kartbay (Kazahkstan), 12-2 — Lee actually fell behind on a takedown in the first 15 seconds of the bout before storming back with four takedowns. The last one also put Kartbay on his back and ended the bout with 58 seconds left in the first period.

Semifinals – won by TF Gulomjon Abdullaev (Uzbekistan), 14-4 — Lee exploded for five takedowns, the final one leading to two-more exposure points off a gut wrench that ended the match with 19 seconds left in the first period. Abdullaev’s four-point s came when he took Lee to his back earlier in the period that cut the lead to 10-4.

Gold Medal Match – vs. Rei Higuchi (Japan) on Friday.

86k Aaron Brooks

R16 — dec. Azamat Dauletbekov, 4-3 – After surrendering a pushout midway through the first period against the No. 1 seed, Brooks responded with two takedowns: the first on a single with 52 seconds left in the first; the second coming off a high crotch 50 seconds into the second period. The final points came with one second left when Brooks was hit with a “caution-and-2” for fleeing.

Quarterfinals — won by TF over Hayato Ishiguro (Japan), 11-1 — Ishiguro led 1- 1 on criteria at the break before the former Penn State star rallied off five straight takedown, the last one on a double that ended the match at 13 seconds left.

Semifinal — lost to Magomed Ramazanov (Bulgaria), 4-3 — With Brooks holding onto the leg of Ramazanov in the closing 15 seconds, the Bulgarian was able to lift and expose the back of Brooks with two seconds for a heart-breaking loss of the American. Brooks used a strong double to lead 3-0 at the break before Ramazanov first got on the board with 1:30 left.

Bronze Medal – Opponent to be determined for Friday match.

Women’s Freestyle

57k Helen Maroulis

R16 — dec. Anshu Anshu (India), 7-2 — Maroulis opened her third Olympic tournament with two takedowns — the first on a single a minute into the mat and the second coming off another single with 2:22 left. That move also led to a leg-turn that helped Maroulis build a 6-0 lead. Anshu finally got on the board when Maroulis was hit with a caution-and-2 with one minute left. The final point came off a push-out with 17 seconds left.

Quarterfinals — dec. Alina Hrushynaakobiia (Ukraine), 7-4 — Maroulis used a pair of inside trips to take a 5-0 lead at the break then countered a shot by the Ukrainian with 30 seconds into the second period. Hrushynaakobiia got on the board by scoring takedowns with 1:55 left and with 40 seconds left.

Semifinal — lost to Tsugumi Sakurai (Japan), 10-4 — Maroulis actually led 2-0 much of the first period off an inside trip for a takedown before the two-time World champ used a four-point throw with 15 seconds left in the frame. Sakurai then added two more takedowns and a leg lace to lead 10-2 before Maroulis added a takedown in the final 20 seconds.

Bronze Medal — opponent to be determined for Friday match.

53k Dominique Parrish

Repechage — lost by fall to Khulan Batkhyag (Mongolia), 10-4 4:35 — Parrish jumped out a 4-1 lead — off a takedown and two pushouts midway through the first period before Batkhyag, the wrestler who lost to Parrish in the 2022 World finals, then scored the final nine points off four takedowns and pushout. The final takedown put Parrish on her back and resulted in a fall.