Spencer Lee advances to Olympic gold medal match for U.S., but Aaron Brooks suffers last-second loss

The United States had an up and down day in Olympics wrestling action on Thursday, with one athlete moving onto a gold medal match but two more falling in the semifinals.

Former Iowa standout Spencer Lee continued his run at 57kg with another dominant performance, shutting down Gulomjon Abdullaev from Uzbekistan with a 14-4 win by technical superiority. While injuries stopped him from even attempting to make the 2020 Olympic team, Lee came storming back with his showing in Paris.

On Friday, Lee faces Rei Higuchi from Japan, who also won his match in lopsided fashion by eliminating Aman Sehrawat from India with a 10-0 score by technical superiority.

While Lee has a chance at gold on Friday, two of his teammates from the U.S. weren’t as fortunate.

Four-time NCAA champion Aaron Brooks, who eliminated 2020 Olympic gold medalist David Taylor to make the U.S. team, suffered a literal last-second loss in his match against Bulgaria’s Magomed Ramazanov.

Brooks started strong and looked like he was in control, but after giving up a two-point takedown, Ramazanov grabbed a leg and started twisting in an attempt to get another turn. While Brooks didn’t surrender the points, his foot was torqued backward at the same time Ramazanov was pulling on his head.

A stall call from the referee saw the wrestlers stand up again, but Brooks was clearly bothered by a potential injury to his back. The match continued with Brooks up 3-2 and he desperately tried to hold on for the win while grabbing onto Ramazanov’s foot during a takedown attempt.

Just before the horn sounded, Ramazanov worked his foot free and secured the takedown for two points and the win to defeat the American. It’s a disappointing result for Brooks, who was favored to win in Paris, but he’ll still get a chance to claim a bronze medal on Friday.

The same goes for two-time Olympic medalist Helen Maroulis in what is almost certainly one of the final competitions of her career. After becoming the first woman to ever win gold for the United States in wrestling back in 2016, Maroulis followed that up with a bronze medal win in 2020.

She’ll go for bronze again on Friday after falling to Japanese phenom Tsugumi Sakurai, who gave up points early but then shut down the American the rest of the way. The final score was 10-4, with Sakurai moving onto the gold medal match.

Both Brooks and Maroulis will still wrestle for bronze while Lee attempts to become the first men’s team member from the United States to win gold after Amit Elor and Sarah Hildebrandt captured gold for the women’s team.