Spencer Lee done for the year?
- Thread starter El_Jefe
- Start date
Wow! I can’t imagine, if this is true, that he’d come back again next year. Who knows, but do hope his surgery is successful and he can return to the wrestling world fully healthy. Detroit just became a lot more interesting though if this news is accurate.
A poster on the Iowa board said this was actually made known yesterday. However, I didn’t see it anywhere yesterday. Also, since Spencer wrestled in the duals last week, he may have burned his regular redshirt? He could probably apply for a medical redshirt? Anybody with insight in this?? On the flip side, does he apply for medical redshirt and return to Iowa risking another injury and never competing in international competition? Lots of unknowns here.
It is a tweet from Mineo, so there is that caveat.
As you noted, if true it does change the dynamics a great deal at Detroit. Iowa would go from Spencer, who barring an upset would get to the finals, to ???. I guess their options are Drake Ayala or Aaron Cashman.
Terrible news for college wrestling, get well Spencer.
This seems to me to be something that could have been avoided. Why did he not have surgery at the end of last season? Did the Iowa staff mishandle this?
If Mineo were to tweet that the sun will rise in the east tomorrow, I’d still have my doubts.
Bottom line, if this is true, it sucks for wrestling.
who knows. Unless all the details are disclosed, which seems highly unlikely, it's hard to 2nd guess what took place. I think he had one blown ACL from HS which he decided to not get repaired, and then he blew an ACL in the other knee last season, and elected to not repair it. He won NCAA championships without one or two functional ACLs, which is hard for me to comprehend. I don't know if one or both of the injuries are full tears or partial tears, and he/his family/his doctors decided that wrestling wouldn't cause it additional harm.
I would not want to wrestle with two torn/blown ACLs. In fact, I'm not sure how one does that, but Spencer gutted it out in high school (though he lost to DeSanto in the PIAA final), and he's made it look relatively easy in NCAAs.
I'm no fan of the Iowa staff, but I suspect they simply deferred to Spencer, his doctors, and his family, and went with whatever they decided. Speculation on my part, for sure, but that's my uneducated guess at what took place.
It does seem odd. He wasn't in a position to go to the Trials etc so why not just get it done. I wouldn't say Iowa mishandled it, ultimately, it is Spencer's decision.
So, I tore an ACL playing indoor soccer and did not realize it at the time as I also dislocated a shoulder and broke A rib during the mishap. I was in so much pain from the rib and shoulder I didn’t think about my knee. Three years later ( 3 years! ) my knee is giving me Problems and feeling dead inside. I knew something was wrong. When I saw an orthopedic doctor, she asked when I had torn my ACL as it was gone. Without an ACL I lost stability and ground down my cartilage until my knee was bone on bone.
Your speculation of his medical team managing it for as long as possible is probably correct. He is young, fit, can compensate with that and probably decided to roll as long as he could without long term recovery operations. There may even be some newer therapies to help him deal with the situation as well.
He is one hell of a wrestler and will be missed this season.
Two other sources for same story
https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/s...aa-champion-hodge-trophy-hawkeyes/9069371002/
https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/25372
https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/s...aa-champion-hodge-trophy-hawkeyes/9069371002/
https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/25372
He will be 24 when next season starts. If healthy next year I would think he would head for international competitions. Just one opinion.
I was really looking forward to 125 in March but now it's far less interesting. I hope he comes back just as strong.
Spencer wrote a statement and can be found on HR. Simply a team player trying help his team be the best. No need to second guess the situation.
The Twitterverse is quite active today. It appears Mineo pronounced Kemerer done for the year, but Kemerer replied that it was news to him.
Spencer has always been a great ambassador for the sport of wrestling. Wishing him a successful and speedy recovery.
Saw it on the Des Moine Register's website. He's planning on applying for a 6th year after surgery, and shouldn't have any trouble getting it. I wonder if the return of the 2 Ivy League 125lbers plus possibly Suriano had anything to do with this decision. He's a tough kid, so it had to be bothering him a lot to go this route.
I wish he’d retire from folk and focus on becoming our next 57kg gold medalist. Although he’s easy to root for, it’ll be even easier and more enjoyable when he’s doing it for USA.
So, he is encouraging Kennedy to take his son in laws spot? Or is Young moving up? The rumors for a long time have been that Young is sucking so much weight to get to 157 that he isn’t himself.
I remember back in 1972 I think, Wade Schalles wrestled at 158# all season. Lee Kemp and Stan Deizack (sp) also wrestled at 158#. So Wade dropped down to 150# for nationals. My wife ran into Wade's mother in the restroom at nationals and she said never again, it was a horrible, terrible experience. That was back in the days of rubber suits and sweat boxes. Wade did go on to win nationals. If I recall right, during the season Wade beat Kemp, Kemp beat Deizack, and Deizack beat Schalles, would have made for a fantastic nationals had Wade stayed at 158#.
The Kennedy 159# rumor from the Iowa board was false. I guess Kennedy weighed in at 164.6. Sorry about reposting fake news.
It’s funny how all these weight class rumors get started. Remember when RBY and Nick were playing games with everyone on social media because the rumor mill had them changing weight classes? We, as fans, (myself included) read between the lines way more than we should most times.
Some added info from Spencer on his decision, and what it's been like with the torn ACLs.
Leistikow: Iowa wrestling's Spencer Lee on his decision to have 2 knee surgeries, sit out rest of season
The college wrestling mega-star opens up about the pain he was experiencing and his future plans at Iowa.
www.desmoinesregister.com
Spencer made the right decision to opt out of this years championship. Suriano, Glory, and Vito would have been too much for him. Better to wait for these guys to clear out so he can assure himself of a 4th title.
Your insinuation here is that Lee is ducking these guys. What in Lee's history would lead you to think this? He is a warrior.
I don't think it is a matter of ducking anyone. He just wants to be at full strength, glory and vito both are back next year. Injured lee still beats glory. Vito and suriano toss up.
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