Spencer Lee drops cryptic message amid Gable Steveson's massive upset at the NCAA Wrestling Championships

Spencer Lee recently expressed his emotions over Gable Steveson's loss in the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships. Steveson faced Oklahoma State's Wyatt Hendrickson on Sunday, March 23, at Wells Fargo Center.

During the final, Hendrickson brought down his opponent in 30 seconds and secured a 5-4 win. As the match ended, the heavyweight champion, whose remarkable 70-match winning streak ended, removed his shoes and left them on the mat, hinting at his retirement from professional wrestling.

Reflecting on the loss, Lee shared a cryptic message on X and wrote:

"Wrestling is hard"

In 2021, both athletes shared an award and expressed admiration for each other.

When Gable Steveson reflected on Spencer Lee’s greatness

Spencer Lee at 2024 Paris Olympic Games: Day 14 - Source: Getty

In 2021, both wrestling champions, Spencer Lee and Gable Steveson were honored with the 2021 Dan Hodge Trophy.

Lee wrestled with two torn ACLs and won all 12 matches, earning extra points in most. Steveson also won all 17 matches and had a high scoring rate. Since both had great seasons, they were chosen as co-winners.

Following the award, both athletes expressed their admiration for each other. Lee called Steveson the best wrestler in the world. Reacting to Lee's comment, Steveson added (via flowwrestling.org):

“It was a bit of a surprise when I got the news because Spencer Lee is such a great wrestler.

The award is named after Dan Hodge, a famous college wrestler known for winning and pinning his opponents.

In 2025, Lee won gold medals at two big wrestling events, the Grand Prix de France Henri Deglane in January and the Grand Prix Zagreb Open in February. He defeated Roman Bravo-Young, a two-time NCAA champion at the Zagreb Open. But later in February, he lost to Masanosuke Ono, the 61kg World Champion, at FloWrestling's "Night in America" event.

Gable Steveson tried to win his third NCAA title in 2025 but lost to Wyatt Hendrickson from Oklahoma State in the finals. The 5-4 loss ended his 70-match winning streak. Even though he didn’t win the NCAA title, he became the first heavyweight to win four Big Ten Conference titles.