Spencer Lee-conqueror Masanosuke Ono announces big career update with commitment to Penn State

Masanosuke Ono has announced a major career update with his commitment to Penn State for his collegiate wrestling career. Ono has been one of the rising stars in wrestling, having become a world champion, national champion, and global U20 champion, all in the same 61kg bracket in 2024.

Ono also competed in last month’s FloWrestling Night In America, where he faced Olympic 57kg freestyle silver medalist Spencer Lee in a highly anticipated showdown. This match was the main event of the evening, but the American lost in a nail-biting contest, 3-2.

Right after the conclusion of the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships, where Penn State emerged as the overall team champions for the fourth consecutive year, Masanosuke Ono announced the news during his FloWrestling Radio Live interaction, stating (0:05 onwards):

“I'm announcing that I'm going to Penn State and wrestling. This is decision for my life. Penn State will help me and is the best in the world.”

At the recently concluded NCAA Wrestling Championships, the program once again dominated, claiming its 13th overall title in the competition's history.

Additionally, Carter Starocci from the same program scripted history with his fifth victory in the individual event, a unique feat never accomplished before. He achieved this due to the change in NCAA rules brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Spencer Lee reflected on loss to Masanosuke Ono at FloWrestling event

Spencer Lee at Paris Olympics (Photo by Kadir Caliskan - United World Wrestling/Getty Images)

Spencer Lee shared his thoughts after being defeated by Masanosuke Ono at the FloWrestling Night in America. He acknowledged that he might have been overly respectful towards him and that his mindset might have held him back. Lee spoke on the loss, stating:

“I need to find a way to get to my offense. I think I respected him too much with all the hype around him, not putting him down. He beat me. I’ll take the loss.”

He further expressed his gratitude to the fans for turning out in huge numbers and apologized for not making the match as competitive via The Daily Iowan:

“I just want to apologize again, not for losing, it’s more for being boring. I’m thankful that [the fans] came out. I’m thankful that people want to see me still. I’m thankful that fans still look forward to watching me wrestle”

Besides the match between Lee and Ono, the event also featured other competitive bouts, including Zahid Valencia facing Trent Hidlay and David Carr competing against Daichi Takatani, among other big matchups.