Sr Worlds results/discussion

WrestleEveryDay

Freshman
Mar 12, 2015
41
72
18
Finally got around to watching Lee at worlds after almost a week unplugged... yikes that wasn't good.
He was the slower, weaker and less conditioned wrestler in that match and got dominated as a result.
Some people are going to freak out about this opinion but I think he's realizing his best days are behind him. He probably keeps grinding but to me that looked like a guy who just couldn't physically do what he wanted and that has to hurt. Given his injury history it's understandable but I just don't see him being able to make the physical gains he needs to get back on top. I hope I'm completely wrong but I think others see it too.
You got all that from 1 match? Wow. You're good.
 

sstark46

Junior
Mar 20, 2013
119
330
63
I've watched every match he's wrestled since coming to Iowa and yes, he was a shell of himself in that match compared even to his run at Paris last year. He was physically overmatched and I don't see that being something he can fix at this point given his injury history.
I wish he could've been pulled into repechage so we would've seen at least one more match from him this tournament to see how he bounced back. I'm not ready to make such a grand declaration that he's washed based on one match at the freaking World Championships
 

Mattski

All-Conference
Apr 21, 2022
873
2,163
93
I wish he could've been pulled into repechage so we would've seen at least one more match from him this tournament to see how he bounced back. I'm not ready to make such a grand declaration that he's washed based on one match at the freaking World Championships
I never said washed but to be physically dominated by a guy like that isn't a fluke. I'll ask it like this, given what we saw, do you think he's more or less likely to win a world or Olympic gold in the future than he was at Paris and Zagreb? I just don't know what he's going to be able to do differently in the future given his injury history and what appears to be a worsening gas tank.
I'm not bashing Spencer, he's an all time great and on my mount Rushmore of Iowa wrestlers.
Just having an honest discussion about where he goes from here.
 

Trakker

All-Conference
Jan 1, 2023
700
1,892
93
Snyder gold medal match now

Lots of rubbing foreheads and finger grabbing. 1-0 Snyder off shot clock. Break

Snyder little too aggressive on pushout attempt. Td IRI 1-2. Blood time. Just over 2min left. Snyder picks up pace. 130 to go. C+1 on IRI 2-2, IRI has criteria. Stepout for Snyder 3-2. IRI in on leg, Snyder defends. End 3-2 Snyder. IRI challenge. Challenge failed, Snyder 4-2 winner.

World champ!
Snyder is getting laid tonight ........

Although uncertain if he will be paying for it or not
 

azchief32

Senior
Dec 20, 2012
9,978
923
113
Finally got around to watching Lee at worlds after almost a week unplugged... yikes that wasn't good.
He was the slower, weaker and less conditioned wrestler in that match and got dominated as a result.
Some people are going to freak out about this opinion but I think he's realizing his best days are behind him. He probably keeps grinding but to me that looked like a guy who just couldn't physically do what he wanted and that has to hurt. Given his injury history it's understandable but I just don't see him being able to make the physical gains he needs to get back on top. I hope I'm completely wrong but I think others see it too.

But we've seen him lay eggs before. Last one was in 2023 NCAA Semis. The Cornell guys didn't make the team. Snyder has lost to guys not named Sadulaev. Dake got teched in the 2021 Olympics. Won the world title a few months later. David Taylor didn't even make his first world team until he was 27 in 2018 (SL is 26). He was behind 3 Americans until they expanded the weights. Nobody argued that he was washed or should move RTCs.
 

sstark46

Junior
Mar 20, 2013
119
330
63
I never said washed but to be physically dominated by a guy like that isn't a fluke. I'll ask it like this, given what we saw, do you think he's more or less likely to win a world or Olympic gold in the future than he was at Paris and Zagreb? I just don't know what he's going to be able to do differently in the future given his injury history and what appears to be a worsening gas tank.
I'm not bashing Spencer, he's an all time great and on my mount Rushmore of Iowa wrestlers.
Just having an honest discussion about where he goes from here.
I don't think he's necessarily more likely or even less likely. I'm not making judgment based on one match in the toughest tournament of the year against a game opponent who really let the fur fly.
If Spencer wrestled in repechage and got dominated in a similar fashion then maybe it's more worthy of a discussion. But even then we can remember that Burroughs got teched in repechage in Rio by a guy he should've had no problem with, and still came back to win worlds the next year.

Bad matches happen, for everyone. It sucks and I feel terrible for Spencer here but it doesn't make me any less optimistic for his chances in 2028
 
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Mattski

All-Conference
Apr 21, 2022
873
2,163
93
But we've seen him lay eggs before. Last one was in 2023 NCAA Semis. The Cornell guys didn't make the team. Snyder has lost to guys not named Sadulaev. Dake got teched in the 2021 Olympics. Won the world title a few months later. David Taylor didn't even make his first world team until he was 27 in 2018 (SL is 26). He was behind 3 Americans until they expanded the weights. Nobody argued that he was washed or should move RTCs.
Nor did I say he was washed or should move RTCs. Never said either.
Yes those guys mentioned all made big jumps late in their careers. But none had at least 3 ACL repairs and a problematic gas tank. Taylor and Dake have always been physical freaks.
I'd love to see Lee go on a run like these 3 have, I just don't know how he's going to do so physically.
 
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el dub

All-Conference
Nov 2, 2005
535
1,382
93
Nor did I say he was washed or should move RTCs. Never said either.
Yes those guys mentioned all made big jumps late in their careers. But none had at least 3 ACL repairs and a problematic gas tank. Taylor and Dake have always been physical freaks.
I'd love to see Lee go on a run like these 3 have, I just don't know how he's going to do so physically.
Speaking of big jumps… It’s nice seeing Real Woods make improvements and medal. I read some doubters earlier who didn’t give him much of a chance.
 

WrestleEveryDay

Freshman
Mar 12, 2015
41
72
18
Nor did I say he was washed or should move RTCs. Never said either.
Yes those guys mentioned all made big jumps late in their careers. But none had at least 3 ACL repairs and a problematic gas tank. Taylor and Dake have always been physical freaks.
I'd love to see Lee go on a run like these 3 have, I just don't know how he's going to do so physically.
So he's not washed, but he can't do it physically? Got it...
 

Mattski

All-Conference
Apr 21, 2022
873
2,163
93
So he's not washed, but he can't do it physically? Got it...
There's a monumental gap between being physically able to make the necessary improvements to WIN worlds or the Olympics and being washed. Quit being a douche. You said washed, not me.
 

WrestleEveryDay

Freshman
Mar 12, 2015
41
72
18
There's a monumental gap between being physically able to make the necessary improvements to WIN worlds or the Olympics and being washed. Quit being a douche. You said washed, not me.
I've never used the term washed, other than in response to you using it. When someone is physically unable to compete, are they not washed? Maybe my understanding of the word washed is off? Or, it could be that you overreacted and now you're trying to walk it back without admitting you overreacted.
 

aije

Redshirt
Apr 3, 2019
10
30
13
This has nothing to do with Spencer’s beatdown today. I’ll attribute it to what was going on between his ears. If you’ve ever wrestled and been successful, you know there were rare instances when you walked on the mat, you didn’t think you had IT. Sometimes, it happens at the worst possible time. It did today.
There is nothing any coach, parent or teammate can say to get you in the right head space.
It happened to me, and it haunts you for decades. I’ll give Spencer a break today and hope he finds his hunger to win again.
Totally agree.

Below is an excerpt from a FLO Interview from four weeks ago

At 8:35 Interviewer: "How full would you say that your arsenal is right now, what you fell like you can go our right now and hit?"

Spencer: "Well that's kind of a funny thing to say because I feel like in practice I can do just about anything but then I get into a match and I have like two shots. I feel like I should open up a little bit more and show what I'm capable of a little bit more. I mean one of the things that I said at Final X was "just go watch me practice". You know I think that I'm a way different wrestler and I think that's frustrating to be a better practice wrestler than an competition wrestler. When I feel like in the past I always said that I'm always going to be a better in a match and I feel like it's kind of swapped for me and I need to find a way to be more open out on the mat."

When I heard that interview, I thought that the last sentence was definitely concerning. Although he looked fantastic in the practice video, the fact that Spencer was trying "find a way" suggested that his mind/body connection was not in the right place on the eve of the competition.

Within the last year, Spencer stuck Gilman at the very end of their second match, came from behind to beat Wanhao Zou at the Last Chance Qualifier and was totally equal to the energy of Higuchi and Ono in very fast paced matches. So unless he was overtrained for this event (which I find impossible to believe) stamina was not the issue.

Elsewhere in the interview Spencer says that the thing that Tom says to him most in practice is "stop thinking, just do" No doubt that is correct. Hopefully he will find a way to do it.

My opinion. YMMV

 
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Mattski

All-Conference
Apr 21, 2022
873
2,163
93
I've never used the term washed, other than in response to you using it. When someone is physically unable to compete, are they not washed? Maybe my understanding of the word washed is off? Or, it could be that you overreacted and now you're trying to walk it back without admitting you overreacted.
I never said physically unable to compete either. If you want to discuss this cool, but if your thing is to misrepresent people's posts to troll then take a hike.
I said he was physically dominated in the match, and it appears his physical limitations are going to make improving difficult. I'm done engaging with you so long as you keep misrepresenting my posts.
 

HugoHugo

Senior
Jan 25, 2024
226
545
93
Did Spencer speak with the media after the tournament? I would like to hear his insight and can't find an interview anywhere.
 
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AndreTheHawk

All-Conference
Jul 2, 2025
863
1,673
93
Anyone who has a differing viewpoint or opinion is either a teenager or they are older and have lost their cognitive abilities....got it.
It's not an opinion moron. Reading comprehension, have a 3rd grader from Iowa explain it to you if you happen to see one in Happy Valley down the road. Got it? Good luck, having a feeling you and your other PSU moron roommate are gonna need it.
 
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PUR158

All-Conference
Feb 11, 2025
308
1,048
93
It's not an opinion moron. Reading comprehension, have a 3rd grader from Iowa explain it to you if you happen to see one in Happy Valley down the road. Got it? Good luck, having a feeling you and your other PSU moron roommate are gonna need it.
This was phenomenal...i rest my case.
 
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jrod65

Senior
Jan 21, 2019
178
862
93
Blades lost by tf to Ishii in qfs.

Taylor lost by tf in r1 snd was eliminated

Kilty and Welker both advanced to bronze medal match.
 

WrestleEveryDay

Freshman
Mar 12, 2015
41
72
18
I never said physically unable to compete either. If you want to discuss this cool, but if your thing is to misrepresent people's posts to troll then take a hike.
I said he was physically dominated in the match, and it appears his physical limitations are going to make improving difficult. I'm done engaging with you so long as you keep misrepresenting my posts.
I may have interpreted what you typed incorrectly; my bad. My point still stands that I think you're having a gross overreaction to a bad match against a multiple-time world medalist.
 

azchief32

Senior
Dec 20, 2012
9,978
923
113
Some people are going to freak out about this opinion but I think he's realizing his best days are behind him. He probably keeps grinding but to me that looked like a guy who just couldn't physically do what he wanted and that has to hurt.


Nor did I say he was washed

I decided to google the term : "washed definition in sports." This is what it gave me: "a player who is no longer performing at their peak level, having declined from their former skill or ability, often due to age, but sometimes due to other factors like burnout or physical problems."
 

TameTurk

Junior
Oct 30, 2021
73
217
33
I decided to google the term : "washed definition in sports." This is what it gave me: "a player who is no longer performing at their peak level, having declined from their former skill or ability, often due to age, but sometimes due to other factors like burnout or physical problems."
Thats how I understand "washed" in sports aswell. No other way to take it
 

Mattski

All-Conference
Apr 21, 2022
873
2,163
93
I decided to google the term : "washed definition in sports." This is what it gave me: "a player who is no longer performing at their peak level, having declined from their former skill or ability, often due to age, but sometimes due to other factors like burnout or physical problems."
Interesting. I've always seen and heard it used to describe someone well past their prime to the point they're no longer relevant and need to just call it quits. I certainly don't see Lee at that point but I am concerned his best days may be behind him.
 
Jan 21, 2012
1,112
791
113
Finally got around to watching Lee at worlds after almost a week unplugged... yikes that wasn't good.
He was the slower, weaker and less conditioned wrestler in that match and got dominated as a result.
Some people are going to freak out about this opinion but I think he's realizing his best days are behind him. He probably keeps grinding but to me that looked like a guy who just couldn't physically do what he wanted and that has to hurt. Given his injury history it's understandable but I just don't see him being able to make the physical gains he needs to get back on top. I hope I'm completely wrong but I think others see it too.
I did not want to be the one to say this, but since you have opened it up, he looks slow and like he has cement blocks on his feet. I remember him being much more fluid earlier in his career. He kind of plodded around, in my opinion. I am not sure if it is injury related or mental, but I remember him being quick and explosive and almost graceful.
I think the best cure for that is to have him wrestle me. He would look lightning fast and like a million bucks against me.
 
Jan 21, 2012
1,112
791
113
Nor did I say he was washed or should move RTCs. Never said either.
Yes those guys mentioned all made big jumps late in their careers. But none had at least 3 ACL repairs and a problematic gas tank. Taylor and Dake have always been physical freaks.
I'd love to see Lee go on a run like these 3 have, I just don't know how he's going to do so physically.
Lets not forget the shoulder surgery he had early in his career also.. The guy has been put thru incredible tests. He is definitely an amazing athlete and person.