Spencer Lee the Comeback Kid Wins Third World Championship

Spencer Lee had to dig deep. For the first time in his Freestyle career Spencer went a full six minute match.

In the first 20 seconds, Spencer was in on a low single and brought it up off the mat but his opponent, Kurshid Parpiev of Kyrgyzstan, kept a hard whizzer in to avoid being taken down.

Then all hell broke loose.

After the restart, Spencer again came in on the attack and was able to gain an advantage over Parpiev from a standing underhook position but the scrappy Parpiev lowered his level and tossed Spencer over his left shoulder. The move earned him four points as Lee was nearly pinned.

After the whistle blew Spencer looked up to coach Brandon Slay, his face told the story.

“I was almost pinned. I was shocked.”

Spencer’s trip had been rough from the start. After three weeks in Rio at the 2016 Olympics training Daniel Dennis, Spencer returned to Murrysville, PA where he prepared for his second Junior World Tournament. He did not travel to Colorado Springs with the rest of Team USA due to being in Rio and having a condensed time schedule.

Leaving from Pittsburgh, Spencer and his father had two flights cancelled en route to Macon, France – a city accessible only by car or train.

Then there was his weight. “Making weight was hard” Lee stated after his finals bout at 50 kg. Even more pressure was placed on the star as France is his mother’s home Nation.

“This is my mother’s home Country, I was not going to lose in front of my family.”

Down (4-0) in the first period, Spencer was in an unfamiliar situation. He had only spent (3:31) total on the mat in his four previous bouts prior to the Championship finals.

“After I have up the four, I got up and thought, something isn’t right.”

Spencer had a rough night of sleep on Friday unable to clear his mind and get the much needed rest after a difficult cut. “I think I slept maybe two hours last night” an exhausted Lee stated. Coach Brandon Slay came to Spencer’s hotel room and gave Spencer his cell phone, put on Pandora, and played classical music to help ease the 17 year old’s mind.

“I was dead after the first minute.”

Still with over 90 seconds left in the first period coach Slay yelled to Lee from the corner “one take down at a time – one take down at a time.”

Spencer got to work and came in hard but Parpiev controlled his elbows not allowing Spencer to generate any offense. From a front headlock, Spencer tried to go behind but Parpiev held on to his right elbow as they spun around. The two wrestlers rolled out of bounds with the referee awarding two points to Spencer for an exposure.

Now down (4-2) with 30 seconds left in the first period, Spencer again nearly got tossed after attempting a duck under and Parpiev controlled the elbow tie. During the break Spencer needed to remind himself what he came to France to accomplish.

“I said to myself, you got to be tougher than that.”

Right off the whistle in the second period Spencer came out swinging and was able to foster a push-out point to cut Parpiev’s advantage to (4-3). Once again Spencer was in the front headlock position and attempted to go behind but Parpiev would not let go of his right hand. Parpiev circled with Spencer and hit basically a granby to roll out and secure two points for exposure. As the two continued, Lee still held a leg but Parpiev rolled through and exposed Spencer’s back to pick up two more exposure points.

Now down (8-3) Spencer was in a daze. “I have never been in that scenario before. I kept thinking, I’m not losing to that kid.” With just over two minutes in the match Spencer began to chip away.

At the (4:30) mark Spencer converted on a go behind as USA coach Jamill Kelly screamed from the sidelines “clear your right arm!”

With the score now (8-5) Spencer said to himself “I can take him down again…” At the (5:00) mark Lee collected an arm drag and ran a half nelson from the left earning two more points “…and, I did.”

Spencer was exhausted. “I had no energy left, my hands were on my knees, but so were his.” The two returned to the center of the mat as the clock read (5:22) and scoreboard was (8-7). Coach Slay yelled out “you need a takedown Spencer!”

The Kid followed instructions and caught Parpiev flat footed to hit a double leg takedown. It was his first advantage of the match at (11-8) with only ten seconds left. As time expired Parpiev earned a push-out point but it was too late. Spencer Lee was the Champion with a final score of (11-9).

As Spencer got his hand raised he put three fingers in the air. It was his second UWW Junior World Championship and third overall World Championship.

Lee pounded his heart as he began to tear-up yelling “I won. I won.”

An emotional Spencer Lee collected an American flag and did a victory lap. This Old Glory was not just any flag. The American flag Spencer celebrated with was the same flag that over 20 years ago his mother Cathy had been given when she officially became an American Citizen.

Spencer Lee came full circle on Saturday night in Macon; the half French wrestler was king of the World once again.