Spencer Lee reacts to Nelson Brands' emotional post as he announces retirement from wrestling

Spencer Lee recently reacted to the retirement of the Iowa wrestler, Nelson Brands. This year was the latter's seventh year with the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Brands recently shared a heartfelt post on his Instagram handle, announcing his retirement from wrestling. He uploaded a bunch of pictures from his career and penned an emotional caption, showcasing his sadness of leaving the sport. He addressed the memories he has had in his career and revealed that this season was tough for him.

Stating that although it wasn't a 'happy ending' for him, he wouldn't trade this for the world. The caption read:

"It pains me to say that my wrestling career has come to an end. But looking back at all the memories and people the sport has given me puts a smile on my face. Although this season was extremely tough on me mentally and physically and it wasn't necessarily a 'happy ending' I wouldn't trade it for the world. I am proud of my accomplishments and what I learned in the sport and have zero regrets."

Thanking his team and his family, he further added:

"I am forever grateful for my family, coaches, teammates and of course HAWKEYE NATION. Cheers to retirement, NRB✝️ out."

This emotional post garnered a lot of attention, including from the American freestyle wrestler, Spencer Lee. He reacted to this news by resharing this post on his Instagram story and expressing that he will miss watching Brands on the wrestling stage. He wrote:

"My brother gonna miss watching u compete!"

Spencer Lee's Instagram story

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Spencer Lee opened up about what affected his performance at the Paris Olympics

Spencer Lee recently sat for an interview with FloWrestling, where he unveiled the reason that impacted his performance at the Paris Olympics. He wasn't satisfied with his performance at the event and revealed that his overthinking got the best of him during the final clash against Rei Higuchi. He said that he was worried about his opponent dragging him off during the match.

Confessing that the overthinking slowed him down, he said:

“Yeah, absolutely. I definitely was overthinking in Olympic finals. I mean I was worried about him dragging me off of like a bad shot or something [Rei Higuchi] he's really good there. I think that definitely made it, so that I didn't really do anything offensively. I think when you overthink like that, you slow down. If you're thinking in a match, you're not wrestling very well so I think a lot of that attributes to that." [2:19 onwards]

Although he was disheartened about not winning the gold medal, he exuded pride in himself for winning the silver medal by sharing a heartfelt post on Instagram. Spencer Lee is presently gearing up for the 2025 season and is expected to compete at the World Wrestling Championships this year.