WATCH: Spencer Lee honored with standing ovation during Iowa State vs Iowa at Kinnick Stadium after winning the silver medal at the Paris Olympics

American freestyle wrestling star Spencer Lee was recently honored following his exploits at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He received a grand welcome from the fans who came to witness the football match between Iowa State Cyclones and Iowa Hawkeyes.

Renowned as one of the most thrilling American college football rivalries, the Iowa State Cyclones narrowly defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 20-19 in their home stadium.

Lee, who represented the Iowa Hawkeyes during his collegiate career, entered the field around halftime. Watch the video of Lee receiving a standing ovation from the spectators at the Kinnick Stadium in a post shared by Big Ten Wrestling on their X handle.

Lee featured at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials and advanced to the Best-of-Three Championship final by defeating top athletes from the USA in the men’s 57kg. After getting past the Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Thomas Gilman in the Best-of-Three by 2-0, he became eligible to represent the USA at the Paris Olympics.

However, since the USA wrestlers hadn’t won a quota earlier in this weight class for the quadrennial event, Spencer Lee had to make the country qualify in the 57kg by winning a quota at the 2024 Wrestling World Qualification Tournament.

At the World Qualifiers in Istanbul, he reached the semifinals to win an Olympic quota for the USA in the category. Apart from his Round of 16 bout against Zou Wanhao which he won by a close margin of 10-9, Lee comprehensively secured victories in all his other games via technical superiority.

Finally, at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Spencer Lee had a phenomenal campaign as he advanced to the finals by defeating Wanhao (3-2) in the Round of 16, Bekzat Almaz Uulu (12-2) in the quarterfinals, and Gulomjon Abdullaev (14-4) in the semifinals. However, he eventually lost against Japan’s Rei Higuchi in a low-scoring contest by a 2-4 margin, thus winning the silver.

A look into Spencer Lee’s collegiate career at the University of Iowa

Spencer Lee of the Iowa Hawkeyes on the awards podium at the 2018 NCAA Division I Championships. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images)

Spencer Lee is a three-time NCAA Division I Championships champion, winning in 2018, 2019, and 2021 in the 125 lb weight class, making him one of the most successful wrestlers in NCAA history.

Additionally, the 25-year-old won the Big Ten Championships thrice in 2020, 2021, and 2023 in the 125 lb weight category. He also finished runner-up in 2019 and third in 2018 in the 125 lb.

Besides accomplishments in collegiate career, he is a two-time US National champion, two-time U20 Worlds gold medalist, and the 2014 U17 World Championships champion.