By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Spencer Lee is now willing to talk about his chance to make history as an Iowa wrestler because it’s the next one.

His one-championship-at-a-time approach has the three-time national champion at 125 pounds on the cusp of becoming the first four-time national champion in the history of the storied Iowa wrestling program.

“The thing is the next one is always the most important one, so it is the most important one because it’s the next one,” Lee said of his quest to win a fourth national title at Iowa’s annual media day event on Thursday. “But the thing is, yeah, four is a big deal. I would be the first to ever do it at Iowa. That’s awesome. That’s amazing.

“But for me, it’s wrestling as hard as I can and scoring as many point as I can in every match. And if I do that, then the title will come and those accolades can be said and then you guys can ask a lot more questions.”

Lee is coming off a 2021-22 season in which didn’t compete after having surgeries to repair both of his knees.

He also had to deal with the Covid year in 2019-20, so this is his sixth season as a Hawkeye.

Lee’s march to the 2021 national title was the stuff of legends as he revealed on ESPN just moments after winning the national title with a 7-0 victory over Arizona State’s Brandon Courtney that he had wrestled the entire 2021 NCAA Championships with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee.

Even with an injured knee, Lee still outscored his 2021 NCAA Championship opponents, 58-9, in total. Lee’s toughness and determination helped the Hawkeyes win the national title with 129.0 team points.

Lee also had torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his other knee, so he needed a year away from the mat to get healthy.

As great as Lee is on the mat, he still is human, and his knees had to be fixed.

Lee was asked at media day to pick one word that would best describe his journey and his recovery process.

The Murrysville, Pennsylvania thought for a few seconds before saying:

“It was arduous would be a good word, long and arduous, but in a good way. I’ve enjoyed it the entire time. It didn’t matter, injuries or what not, because I’ve always had the best staff and the best teammates that helped push me along the way and get me through this.”

Lee is trying to become just the fifth wrestler in NCAA history to win four national titles.

The four that have accomplished that rare feat are Oklahoma State’s Pat Smith (1990-94), Iowa State’s Cael Sanderson (1999-02), Cornell’s Kyle Dake (2010-13) and Ohio State’s Logan Stieber (2012-15).

Iowa wrestling coach Tom Brands came close to being a four-time NCAA champion as a Hawkeye, winning three national titles under Dan Gable in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Brands would go on to win a gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games, so he has what Lee hopes to have some day.

But first things first.

All that matters to Lee right now is the next one, and that approach is one of many reasons why Tom Brands has so much respect for Lee.

“I think going to four, the approach was right from the very beginning for Spencer, because he set it, and when he won his first one, I think maybe the question in the media room at the national tournament went to four, and he said, I’m after the next one, and that’s been his marching orders to himself since the first one,” Tom Brands said Thursday at media day. “He’s definitely wrestling for posterity, for history, but it’s the next one.”

Lee is on a mission to become the greatest wrestler he can be, to reach his vast potential, but that requires an incredible amount of discipline and focus.

Tom Brands saw early on just how focused Lee was on his mission, and the steps and sacrifices that he was willing to make.

“One of the first things I remember was unique about this guy was when he came to campus and we were talking about how he drives,” Tom Brands said. “He says, I drive really slow, and the reason why is because I don’t want to get in an accident because if I get in an accident, I might get hurt and then I can’t wrestle.

That’s as plain as it gets right there. Wrestling is everything to this guy. He’s never wavered from his quest to be the best wrestler on the planet. What a tribute.”

Lee is the centerpiece to an Iowa team that is ranked second behind defending national champion Penn State by Intermat, Win and Flo Wrestling.

Iowa finished third at the 2022 NCAA Championships with 74 points, and with five All-Americans, but not an individual winner.

Iowa’s highest individual finish was Jacob Warner in second place at 197 pounds.

Tom Brands welcomes 17 newcomers to the roster, including two transfers: Real Woods from Stanford and Cody Teske from Northern Iowa.

Woods was a two-time All-American at Stanford, finishing sixth last season at 141 pounds, while Teske was a two-time national qualifier at Northern Iowa after having started his career at Penn State.

Woods, who attended high school in Illinois, said he picked Stanford coming out of high school because of academics, and he has since achieved his No. 1 goal by earning a degree from Stanford.

Woods now wants to win a national title, both individually and as a team, and he felt that Iowa was the best place for him to achieve those goals.

“It’s actually what I expected and way more,” Woods said Thursday. “I’m really grateful that I chose this place because not only the work that we put in and the training cycle, but really the culture here at Iowa is exactly what I was looking for and it really aligns best with my mentality and my personality and with my style on the wrestling mat.”