ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Top seeds Spencer Lee and Real Woods won Big Ten Conference individual titles and Lee took home two of the top individual honors on Sunday night at the 2023 Big Ten Championships at Crisler Arena.
Lee was voted the Big Ten Wrestler of the Year for a third time in his career (2020, 2021) and he was selected as the Outstanding Wrestler of the Big Ten Championships for the first time in his career. He went 3-0 with two technical fall victories and outscored his opponents, 45-4.
𝐁𝟏𝐆 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐎𝐍!@LeeSpencerlee36 wins his 3rd B1G title with an 8-2 decision over Nebraska’s Liam Cronin! 55 straight wins! #Hawkeyes | #B1GWrestle pic.twitter.com/joRAdeMBks
— Iowa Hawkeye Wrestling (@Hawks_Wrestling) March 5, 2023
He is the second Hawkeye all-time to earn three Big Ten Wrestler of the Year honors, joining Mark Ironside (1996, 1997, 1998) as a three-time recipient. Iowa has had 11 wrestlers garner 13 Outstanding Wrestler of the Championships honors and 10 wrestlers have garnered 15 Big Ten Wrestler of the Year accolades.
Lee and Woods are the 209th and 210th Big Ten champions in program history. Woods is the 118th Big Ten champion all-time. Both were named to the 2023 All-Big Ten team.
The Hawkeyes had all 10 wrestlers place in the top seven of the championships with all 10 qualifying for the NCAA Championships later this month in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Iowa finished the tournament with 134.5 points to finish as the team runner-up, while Penn State won the title with 147 points.
“We have to be tougher in tough situations, tougher in tough positions, we have to score points, be more efficient in putting points on the board and if we can do that, maybe we can put ourselves in contention in Tulsa,” said Iowa head coach Tom Brands. “If we don’t do that, the result will be similar.”
Lee won his third Big Ten title, winning an 8-2 decision over Nebraska’s second-seeded Liam Cronin in the finals at 125. The win was Lee’s 55th consecutive victory.
“It was a good game plan, he was pushing a lot and pushing the pace,” said Lee. “He wanted to push me around a little bit and force things. Usually he rolls a lot more when we wrestle. People game plan, it’s the Big Ten finals. Guys have to be ready to go and he was ready to go.”
The Pennsylvania native is Iowa’s 19th three-time Big Ten champion. He previously won titles in 2020 and 2021, while finishing as the runner-up in 2019. Lee is now 17-0 this season with 15 bonus point victories.
“We have a lot to work on as a team. We’re still grinding as a team, it was a tough tournament,” said Lee. “I feel like I improved a lot this weekend in a lot of areas, but I have a lot to work on as well.”
