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Spencer Lee, DeSanto take tough losses at Flo exhibition event

by:Tanner Lafever•02/27/25•

TannerLafever

Spencer Lee vs Masanosuke Ono
In a matchup of two of the most explosive wrestlers in the world, Spencer Lee lost a 3-2 defensive slugfest to Masanosuke Ono. (Photo Credit: Cody Blissett / The Daily Iowan)

On a night that was unquestionably a success for the sport of wrestling, Spencer Lee wanted to apologize.

As part of the headline match of FloWrestling Night in America: Lee vs Ono, the Hawkeye graduate felt he’d let people down – not by losing to reigning World champion Masanosuke Ono (Japan), 3-2, but for what he described afterward as “such a boring finale.”

Two of the most explosive, exciting wrestlers in the world had gone a full six minutes without either scoring a takedown. And in fact, the legitimate point-scoring opportunities were nearly as barren.

“It seems that when I wrestle these guys who are gaming me and they’re really good at what they do that I’m not doing a lot of offense,” said Lee post-match. “So, I need to find a way to get to my offense.”

“I think I respected him too much. There’s a lot of hype around him – not putting him down by any means – he beat me, and I’ll take the loss as a man.”

“I’m just saying I think that I put him on a little bit of a pedestal, and I need to go out and wrestle a little bit more.”

“And I’m more saying that too because I’m apologizing for such a boring finale. Everyone’s excited for a big match and then me and him stand there and club each other a few times.”

Lee’s frustration with the look/outcome of his match aside, the evening itself was great for observers.

Entertaining matches peppered a 13-bout card, and a large, engaged (pro-Iowa) crowd filled Xtream Arena in Coralville to take in the event.

Said Lee of that support, “I’m thankful that they came out. I’m thankful that they want to see me still. I’m thankful that fans still look forward to watching me wrestle.”

Lee vs Ono – a twist on Paris

From the opening whistle it was clear that consistent if cagey physicality was going to be the theme.

Ono – who demolished all comers at the 2024 World Championships in late October at 61 kilograms (~134.5 pounds), including a pair of recent World/Olympic champions – controlled center in the early going.

In doing so, he was able to move Lee to the edge on several occasions – scoring single points for step outs on three of them.

FWIW, Lee’s corner – manned by Iowa coach Tom Brands (1996 Olympic gold) and Dan Dennis (2016 Olympian) – was none too pleased with 1-2 of those calls.

In some ways, it was oddly reminiscent of Lee’s previous match with a Japanese star – a close loss to Rei Higuchi in the 2024 Olympic gold medal match.

On that occasion, Lee was not awarded points for several (potential) step-out scenarios. This time, his opponent was.

“It’s all subjective. In my Olympic finals match I did the same thing to the guy three times, and I didn’t get any points,” said Lee.

“It’s up to the ref, and at the end of the day there’s no excuse. I was on the edge of the mat. He wasn’t. If I’m pushing him out and the ref gives me points or not that’s because I created an opportunity for it to be a subjective call toward (me), right? Whereas I was the one in the negative position (tonight), so it’s my fault.”

“Whatever happened, that’s my fault. I could care less if people think it’s BS or should be no points – that’s my fault. So, if anyone says otherwise, they don’t know wrestling. They should know that you should get your butt to the center, and you should wrestle hard, and you should not be in that position.”

Lee vs Ono – too slow, too defensive

Ultimately, the Hawkeye legend would narrow the gap to just one point, scoring the second of two ‘cautions’ against Ono as time wound down. But not only was it not enough in a 3-2 defeat, it was hardly reflective of the ‘Spencer Lee’ fans have come to know.

And it wasn’t who he wants to be, either.

“I get it (that) at a high level sometimes it’s like that (boring/low-scoring), but I don’t like that being myself,” said Lee.

“Even if it was 3-2 and I lost, but there was offense and shooting and scoring opportunities then I think I’d a lot more OK with how the match went.”

“I think that the match being so slow, and then him getting his offense going more than me is what’s frustrating me the most.”

“I hope there’s more of this to come. And again, I apologize for being so dang boring. I also apologize for losing for the state of Iowa.”

Standing amongst a few reporters some 15 minutes after his match, Lee is completely clear-eyed in evaluating his performance.

“I like (high) scoring matches. I think that benefits me. If this match is like, 11-9, I think that’s good for me and I want more of that.”

“I think we both shut each other down, so much so that it was boring – and I apologize for that. And I hope that the next time me and him wrestle – because I’m sure we’ll wrestle again – I hope it’s more fun and more exciting.”

As per Lee’s words, one would expect he and Ono to face off again (perhaps soon).

The 57-kilogram (Lee) and 61-kilogram (Ono) dynamos met in the middle at 59.5kg on Wednesday night. But come September’s World Championships, a 57kg World title could conceivably be at stake.

Lee vs Ono – final (self) critiques

While entirely professional and even-keeled with the media, the insatiable competitor within Spencer Lee still radiates from every other sentence.

As willing as he is to offer compliments (where due), he’s equally unwilling to let himself off the hook for not meeting anything less than his own sky-high standards.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for him and hopefully he has some respect for me,” said Lee of Ono.

“I don’t know if he does or not considering how I wrestled.”

The Olympic silver medalist continued:

“But I think he’s a great guy and I’m glad he came out to wrestle. I’m glad it worked out.”

“It’s an exhibition match and I need to be better. I’ve got to learn how to score points. Apparently, I don’t know how to do that.”

Lee even closed his comments about Wednesday’s fan support and his immense gratitude for it with another (totally unnecessary) apology:

“I just want to apologize (again), not for losing – it’s more for being boring,” he said.

“I’m hoping that if there’s another event like this and I’m in it, it’s not ‘Oh shoot, Spencer you’re going to wrestle – it’s going to be a boring match.’ That’s what I don’t want.”

Look, far be it from me to correct Spencer Lee on anything that pertains to the sport of wrestling.

However, in this one instance I’d simply offer this:

Iowa fans would watch him watch paint dry. And they’d pay to do so and probably go home glad that they did.

That’s the sort of cachet he has earned over the years representing both the Black & Gold and the Red, White & Blue.

And I’d bet anything he’ll continue to wow those very same fans with his performances yet to come.

DeSanto vs Gross – a classic ‘scoreboard doesn’t tell the whole story’

The other Hawkeye to take the mat in the heart of Hawkeye country was Lee’s long-time teammate Austin DeSanto.

He too would taste defeat, and he too in a hotly contested match against a quality opponent.

I detailed the history between DeSanto and Seth Gross in my preview of their latest match, but a reminder that Gross was a 2018 NCAA champion who also placed fifth at the 2022 World Championships as a member of Team USA.

A 2-2 series prior to Wednesday night at Xtream Arena, the ‘rubber match’ went in Gross’ favor.

And while the final scoreline may read 10-0 technical fall, that ‘grossly’ misrepresents the match itself.

As he’s wont to do, DeSanto constantly took ground throughout the match. But he trailed 2-0 at intermission as Gross was able to slickly reverse a pair of positions on the edge of the mat to earn step-out points of his own.

The theme continued into the second, now with DeSanto getting to the legs of his familiar foe.

But part of that familiarity is knowing Gross is exceptionally good at counter offense. And on this occasion, it would prevail – earning him three sets of exposure points from shots/scrambles initiated by DeSanto. The last of them was a four-pointer that ended the match with less than 10 seconds remaining.

DeSanto certainly won’t be thrilled with the outcome, but it was still cool to see him back in his element in front of a full-throated Hawkeye crowd.

Iowa fans were getting into it as he ramped up the pace in his customary fashion. And they also seemed quite enthralled by his walkout song – “Wild Thing” by The Troggs.

How great is wrestling, huh?

Short time

The recap portion now over with, I just want to give a shout out to the folks at FloWrestling and Xtream Arena for putting on a really cool event Wednesday night.

The entire setup – introductions, lights, elevated mat – all heightened the spectacle of the event. And the action on the mat was as high-level as you’d expect given the field of elite competitors on hand.

Fresh off his massive win at Sunday’s Iowa/Oklahoma State dual, Angelo Ferrari was in attendance and received a loud ovation from the Hawkeye faithful. Meanwhile, top overall 2026 recruit Bo Bassett met with (lots of) fans before the event:

The assembled crowd was also treated to a trailer for the upcoming Flo docuseries on last year’s inaugural season for the Iowa Hawkeye women’s program – a project that I’ve heard great things about, and which should be releasing at some point in the not-too-distant future.

And from a personal standpoint, I even found myself in the bizarre position of rubbing elbows with an Olympic champion – of whom several were in attendance in Coralville.

So, while the Lee/DeSanto outcomes may’ve been disappointing for Iowa fans, overall, I felt like the event was an absolute win for the sport of wrestling.

And I’m hoping we’ll continue to see more like it in the future – ideally returning to Wrestletown, USA at some point soon as well.

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