The past two weeks have been a whirlwind for Iowa City as former Hawkeye legend Spencer Lee and current true freshman Everest Leydecker both captured senior world titles in Astana at 57kg and 55kg, respectively.
We also saw former Hawkeye Kennedy Blades bring home a bronze medal at 68kg.
Focusing first on Spencer Lee, this world run has been a long time coming and damn was it sweet to finally see his journey come full circle! He first stepped on campus back in 2017 as one of the biggest recruits not
only in Iowa history, but in the history of the sport. As a high schooler many were predicting him to be a 4x NCAA champ and multi-time world and Olympic champ. No pressure, right, but repetitive ACL tears (as well as heartbreaking losses) would derail those dreams and goals. Then again who could live up to those expectations? Despite the 2024 Olympic Silver medal the Hawkeye-haters wrote him off, and following his collapse at worlds last year and the emergence of Luke Lilldahl as a serious challenger at 57kg, the Hawkeye faithful began to wonder if time was running out. Hint: it wasn’t and it hasn’t.
Lee entered the tournament as the favorite and stormed his way into the semi-finals with three straight tech-falls. Then we all collectively crapped ourselves against Islam Bazarganov (Azerbaijan). Lee had a 3-0 lead entering the 2nd, but was taken down, trap-armed, exposed, and found himself in a deep 3-10 hole. FWIW- the ref gave Islam a ridiculous amount of time to turn and reposition. Regardless, Islam went to the well one too many times and Lee’s folkstyle kicked in. He reversed the trap-arm off another exposure, got a headlock, threw in double boots and stuck him, punching his ticket to the championship round!
Of course, it came down to Iowa vs PSU for a world title against Roman Bravo-Young representing Mexico.
The anxiety was short lived as Lee worked over RBY to the tune of a 10-0 tech fall in 26 seconds… then emotional dam broke.
Afterward, Lee admitted that he tore his ACL for the 4th time collectively.
We can spend the next several months soaking this up, but the adversity that this man has overcome throughout his competitive career is nothing short of amazing.
Also, Lee bonused his way through the entire field, on one knee. Truly incredible.
Everest Leydecker is a true freshman phenom and became the 2nd youngest USA world champ, despite getting bronze at the U23 World Champs the week before Astana!
Not only did she bounce back and win gold, but her win secured the team gold for USA and gave the women their 2nd team title.
Everyone, keep an eye on Leydecker, she’s truly something special. Check this out, immediately after winning she runs to her coach and asks if the team had won. Awesome.
Kennedy Blades captured her 3rd world bronze with a 10-3 win over the 2023 world silver medalist, Enkhsaikhany Delgermaa of Mongolia. Blades was rolling along until she ran into the soon-to-be world champ in the semis and lost 3-6. This marks the 3rd straight year, including the 2024 Olympics, where Blades has brought hardware back to Iowa City.
Unfortunately, Blades left Iowa early and gave up her senior to focus on RAF (Real American Freestyle) and the 2028 Olympics. However, she’s still in Iowa City training and working towards that gold medal.
Finally, current Hawkeye Kylie Welker captured her 3rd U23 world title a couple weeks ago after coming up short to the current world bronze medalist, Dymond Guilford, at Final X. Welker is also a 2x senior world medalist securing bronze in 2024 and 25. Welker is back for her senior year at Iowa.
Notes of Interest:
-USA became the first country to win both the men’s and women’s freestyle team titles in the same year.
-The women had 2 champs and 6 medalists in total.
-The men had 5 champs and 9 medalists.
-Kyle Dake is now 5x time world champ and the first US rep to do it at 3 different weight classes. He’s also the oldest world champ in US history.
-Kyle Synder is now a 5x world champ and 9x medalist.
-The US men had 5 world champs: Lee 57kg, Bo Bassett 65kg, Levi Haines 79kg, Dake 86kg, and Synder 97kg.
Lastly, in my opinion, we’re on the edge of a resurgence of Hawkeye athletes on the senior/ world stage.
Here’s a list of current/ former Hawks on the National Team with their national rank:
Men’s –
#1 Spencer Lee 57kg
#3 Austin DeSanto 61kg
#2 Real Woods 65kg
#2 Stephen Buchanan 97kg
Women’s-
#1 Everest Leydecker 55kg
#2 Macey Kilty 62kg
#3 Reece Larramendy 65kg
#1 Kennedy Blades 68kg
#2 Kylie Welker 76kg
The Iowa Hawkeye Men open up the season against Bellearmine on Nov. 13.
The Iowa Hawkeye Women will compete next at the Bill Farrell Memorial International Open today, Nov. 6 and the Yorktown Duals Nov. 7 and 8.
