Senior wrestler Spencer Lee recently competed in the Junior World Wrestling Championships in Macon, France.
Lee was in Macon from August 30 until September 5, competing as a freestyle wrestler in the 50 kg weight class.
During the competition, he competed against five other wrestlers, one each from Turkey, France, Romania, Azerbaijan, and Kyrgyzstan.
He competed in four rounds to qualify for finals, which he won, taking home the gold for the third time in a row.
“After I won, I had French fans all wanting to take pictures with me, and a lot of other athletes shaking my hand and saying ‘Champion!’” said Lee. “Since I’m 50 percent French, and a lot of people in that arena knew that, when I won, every single person there went wild.”
Lee’s mother was born in France and lived there until she was 19, and so Lee was excited to go back and get to see his mother’s family.
“My cousins and my aunt and uncle came to watch me wrestle,” said Lee.
In addition to his success at Worlds, he also hopes to have a successful season on the school wrestling team this winter, hopefully winning his fourth state title.
“I hope to help the Franklin Regional wrestlers do their best as a team,” said Lee.
As he is such a talented wrestler, Lee has had offers from many colleges and universities, but he committed to Iowa last school year, and still plans on attending.
“I feel like Iowa is the right fit for me,” said Lee, stating that it just felt like home.
Lee has worked hard to get to where he is today and will continue to do so, with a routine that involves lots of running, wrestling, and eating right.
Next year Lee hopes to make another World team and win Worlds for the fourth time.
Note: this article was originally published in Franklin Regional High School's newspaper The Panther.
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