Consolation prize eases Lee’s pain
Hodge Award is wrestling’s equivalent of Heisman Trophy
Spencer Lee didn’t get the chance to compete recently for a third consecutive NCAA title, as the NCAA canceled its Division I individual wrestling championships along with all other winter sports championships due to the COVID19 pandemic.
On March 30, the Iowa junior and Franklin Regional High School graduate received the best consolation prize for which he could ask.
Lee, a three-time PIAA champion and three -time age-level world champion while competing at Franklin Regional, was named the 2020 recipient of the Dan Hodge Trophy, college wrestling’s equivalent of football’s Heisman Trophy. The award is given annually to the most dominant wrestler in the nation.
“It’s an honor to win,” Lee said. “I’m part of a list of elite, great college wrestlers. You take what you can get.”
This year’s vote, conducted by a panel of former Hodge Trophy winners, coaches, media members and executives, was among the most lopsided in the award’s 25-year history. Lee received 52 of a possible 57 first-place votes and is the second WPIAL wrestler to win the award after North Allegheny grad Jake Herbert won it as a senior at Northwestern in 2009.
“It’s the most dominant wrestler award. It means a lot,” Iowa coach Tom Brands said. “That’s how we want our program defined. Spencer Lee embodies that very well.”
Lee is one of the rare wrestlers whose dominance can be quantified in numbers, beyond just observing his performance on the mat. He compiled an 18-0 record to earn the No. 1 seed for the since-canceled NCAA tournament — and earned bonus points in 17 of those 18 matches.
A two-time defending NCAA champion at 125 pounds, Lee outscored his opponents, 234-18, on the season, with four first-period pins, nine technical falls and four major decisions. His closest match was an 8-1 win against Michigan’s Jack Medley.
Lee then defeated Medley via a 19-3 technical fall in the Big Ten Conference semifinals before picking up a 16-2 major decision over Purdue’s Devin Schroder to capture his first league championship.
“My first two years, I didn’t go undefeated, so I wasn’t even in contention [for the Hodge],” Lee said. “I don’t want to lose matches, so going undefeated has always been a goal of mine.
“I’m just trying to win every match. If you win every match and you dominate, you’ll be a contender.”
Matt Lebe worked as an assistant coach for Lee’s first three years at Franklin Regional before taking over as head coach prior to his senior year. And like anyone else who followed Lee’s rise through the junior circuits, Lebe knew Lee’s future was bright before he got to Franklin Regional.
But it wasn’t until Lebe got the chance to work with him every day that he realized how far Lee could go.
“We knew obviously with him coming up that he was special,” Lebe said. “But once you get around him on a daily basis and get to witness it — I don’t think you truly know it until you’re around him every day and watch the level that he trains at and the passion he has for the sport of wrestling.”
In the midst of his remarkable collegiate season, Lee also took home first place in the 57-kilogram freestyle competition at the U.S. Senior Nationals in December by cruising through a bracket littered with six former NCAA champions. That captivating performance earned him an automatic bid to the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials, which since have been postponed to 2021.
On top of the cancellation of the NCAA tournament and the postponement of the Olympics, the NCAA ruled last week that winter sports athletes will not receive an extra year of eligibility. That announcement came just hours after Lee was named the Hodge Trophy winner.
Lee was a heavy favorite to bring home his third NCAA title this year and was well on his way to becoming only the fifth four-time champion wrestler in NCAA history. Now, it appears he will never get the opportunity to achieve that dream.
“The message has to be about going forward,” Brands said. “This team was robbed of history. Spencer Lee was robbed of history. … You don’t know what’s coming up around the corner, so you have to keep your perspective.”
Nobody knows when the pandemic is going to be over and when things are going to return to a sense of normalcy. But whenever that happens, Lee certainly won’t be lacking in confidence.
“I expected the worst, and I was prepared for everything,” Lee said. “I’ll be ready when it’s time, and that’s all I care about is being ready for whatever happens. Whenever these tournaments and trials occur, I’ll be ready for it.”