Spencer Lee said he plans to compete later this month at the U.S. Open, but the Iowa star indicated hasn’t been on the mat in the three weeks since the NCAA Championships and his plans for the open hinge on his health and readiness. 

In a 39-minute interview with Barstool Sports, the three-time NCAA champion reflected on the pressure he faced during his college career, his NCAA semifinal loss to Purdue’s Matt Ramos and the next steps in his wrestling path and his pursuit of World and Olympic glory. 

To chase those Senior-level freestyle goals in 2023, he’ll have to go through the U.S. Open in Las Vegas. Lee has until April 23 to register seeding for the tournament, which begins April 27. 

“We’ll see,” Lee said. “We’re working on it. I’ve gotta be healthy, gotta be ready to go, first of all.”

“We haven’t fully decided whether I’m going or not. I plan on it, but I always plan on competing.” 

Asked about his training regimen, Lee said: “I haven’t really wrestled yet. We’re getting there.” 

Lee’s bid to become a four-time NCAA champion got derailed last month in Tulsa, where Ramos pulled off a stunning comeback in the final minute of the 125-pound NCAA semifinals.  

Lee entered the bout with a 58-match winning streak that began in 2019 and included 51 bonus-point victories, including a January pin against Ramos. The Iowa senior rallied back from an early 4-0 deficit and led 7-4 with less than a minute remaining when Ramos took him to his back for a fall with one second left on the clock. 

“I saw people say I lost because I was hurt and that’s just not true,” Lee said in the Barstool interview. “I got beat. There’s no ifs, ands or buts. That’s just the sport. I hate when people try to make excuses for me on why I lost when I got outwrestled and beat positionally. They’re taking away credit from someone who deserves credit. I want to say to people: Instead of hating on me for medically forfeiting or getting out of the tournament, why not go give love to Matt Ramos for beating me? The kid obviously deserves the praise of him making the finals in his first NCAA tournament down at 125 and people are too busy finding ways to shove down people and not give him credit, and I think that’s unfair to him.” 

It was Lee’s final match with the Hawkeyes. He medically forfeited out of the tournament and finished sixth. 

“I got called a quitter a lot,” Lee said in the Barstool interview. “People said I’m not a role model and I saw someone say to me that they’re really glad I did forfeit because now their son can see the difference between winners and quitters. I just smile. Maybe one day I’ll regret it. I don’t regret it now because I’m trying to get ready for what's next. 

“Like I said, I’m not healthy, I’m trying to get healthy the best I can and that’s all you can do. That’s not an excuse. Like I said, I wrestled fine, I wrestled fine all year. It’s just hard, though, you know, hearing all that stuff and all the hate because I didn’t wrestle two matches for me that didn’t matter.”