For the first time since February 2023, Iowa wrestling fans will get the chance to watch Hawkeye hero Spencer Lee compete in their own backyard.<\/p>\n
(And he won\u2019t be alone.)<\/p>\n
On Wednesday night at Xtream Arena in Coralville \u2013 not two miles from his old stomping grounds at Carver-Hawkeye Arena \u2013 Lee headlines \u2018FloWrestling Night in America\u2019 as part of a 10-match main card.<\/p>\n
Tom Brands talks about the significance of Spencer Lee vs Masanosuke Ono<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t miss #LEEvsONO<\/a> on February 26th! Live on Flo pic.twitter.com\/IaZbeBTMOI<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) February 21, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/span>\n<\/div>\n He\u2019ll be joined by a plethora of other highly credentialed wrestlers (both domestic and international).<\/p>\n World\/Olympic medalists? Check.<\/p>\n NCAA stars of yesteryear? Check.<\/p>\n And perhaps of greatest interest to Iowa fans, Lee\u2019s old \u2018tag-team partner\u2019 \u2013 Austin DeSanto \u2013 will be taking the mat as well.<\/p>\n (For a full bout order\/breakdown, check out this link<\/a>.)<\/p>\n As for the opponents for the two Hawkeye alums, buckle up.<\/p>\n Lee will close the evening against Japanese sensation Masanosuke Ono \u2013 a 2024 World Champion. Meanwhile, DeSanto is set to renew an ongoing rivalry with 2018 NCAA champion, Seth Gross.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll get into a bit more about each of the key figures involved in Wednesday\u2019s event from an Iowa perspective \u2013 then let folks know how\/when to watch should be an awesome night of scrapping in the heart of Wrestletown, USA.<\/p>\n Look, you guys don\u2019t exactly need me to run through Spencer Lee\u2019s credentials again.<\/p>\n So, we\u2019ll keep it brief for any newcomers out there:<\/p>\n 3x age-level World Champion<\/p>\n 3x NCAA champion<\/p>\n 2024 Olympic silver medalist (57kg)<\/p>\n all-around point-scoring machine<\/p>\n Last summer Lee fulfilled (part of) a lifelong dream by making his first Olympic team, ultimately falling just short<\/a> of his biggest goal by losing 4-2 in the gold medal match to another Japanese star \u2013 Rei Higuchi.<\/p>\n Now, he takes aim toward the next Olympic cycle \u2013 leading to the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n But rather than wait until the 2025 World Championships later this year, why not test yourself against the very best right here and now? At least that seems like Lee\u2019s mindset with Wednesday\u2019s matchup.<\/p>\n How so? Well, because Masanosuke Ono is arguably the brightest young men\u2019s wrestling star in the world right now.<\/p>\n Last September, Ono made his first Under-20 World team and subsequently steamrolled to a title at 61 kilograms \u2013 outscoring four opponents by a combined margin of 38-2.<\/p>\n Then, not even two months later, he did pretty much the same thing \u2013 on the senior level.<\/p>\n In five matches, Ono scored 55 points while allowing just two. In the process he crushed 2020 Olympic champion\/two-time World champion Zavur Uguev (Russia) and<\/em> 2023 World champion Vito Arujau (USA).<\/p>\n Now he\u2019ll match wits with Spencer Lee in a bout the international wrestling community is dying to see.<\/p>\n Aside from Wednesday\u2019s intrigue, there\u2019s also talk Ono may drop down to 57 kilograms (~125.7 pounds) for his upcoming international pursuits. That\u2019d be a change from his recent dominance at 61kg (~134.5 pounds) and line him up squarely with Lee at future major tournaments.<\/p>\n *Wednesday\u2019s bout will be contested at a \u2018catch weight\u2019 of 59.5kg (~131.2 pounds).<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the other Hawkeye-related match of Wednesday is actually a two-parter.<\/p>\n Iowa fans are plenty familiar with Austin DeSanto\u2019s career in the Black & Gold singlet.<\/p>\n His relentless pressure and blistering pace made him appointment viewing every time he stepped onto the mat. And his results (four-time All-American) played no small part in Iowa performing as the best team in the country for back-to-back seasons (incl. a 2021 NCAA team title).<\/p>\n His opponent tomorrow night \u2013 Seth Gross \u2013 was actually a Hawkeye himself once upon a time. But a winding (and ultimately excellent) career took him away from Iowa City to the likes of South Dakota State and Wisconsin to conclude his collegiate eligibility.<\/p>\n As an SDSU Jackrabbit, Gross was a 2017 NCAA runner up to Iowa\u2019s Cory Clark before winning a title of his own in 2018. But it wasn\u2019t until a move to Wisconsin that he\u2019d lock horns with DeSanto.<\/p>\n The pair met three times during the 2019-20 season \u2013 led off by DeSanto upsetting the top-ranked Badger at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.<\/p>\n Gross would get his revenge twice in the proceeding months via a pair of tightly contested rematches at The Midlands<\/a> and the Big Ten Championships<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fast-forward three whole years and they finally met again, this time with DeSanto coming out on top at the 2023 US Open.<\/p>\n The outcome was even more impressive considering the year prior Gross had represented the United States at the World Championships, taking fifth place.<\/p>\n So, Wednesday will serve as a \u2018rubber match\u2019 of sorts between these two, at least for now. And we as a wrestling audience are all the better off for it.<\/p>\n For Iowa fans sitting at home, Wednesday night\u2019s event will be livestreamed exclusively on FloWrestling<\/a> (subscription required).<\/p>\n Action begins at 6:30 p.m. (CT) with a trio of \u2018undercard\u2019 high school matches, followed by the \u2018main card\u2019 at 7:00 p.m.<\/p>\n DeSanto\/Gross will be match 6\/10<\/a> on the main card. Shortly thereafter, Spencer Lee and Masanosuke Ono will close out the night in a clash of titans.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, tickets are still available if you\u2019d like to attend this event in person. The link below should point folks in the right direction:<\/p>\n Tickets are on sale for Spencer Lee vs Masanosuke Ono on February 26 in Coralville, Iowa. You don’t want to miss this!<\/p>\n \u2014 FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) January 24, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/span>\n<\/div>\n I\u2019ll also have boots on the ground covering things live if you want to give me a follow on social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n If somehow you weren\u2019t already convinced to attend\/tune in to Wednesday\u2019s night\u2019s event, perhaps you might be tempted by a chance to meet (potentially) the next \u2018Spencer Lee-type\u2019 wrestler for the Hawkeyes.<\/p>\n Come and meet Iowa\u2019s biggest recruit in Bo Bassett before FloWrestling Night in America: Lee vs Ono <\/p>\n Bo Bassett will be at the Xtream Arena from 5:30pm-6:30pm CT #leevsono<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/WbEIB0SA7r<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) February 25, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/span>\n<\/div>\n Top-ranked 2026 recruit, Bo Bassett \u2013 fresh off his recent commitment to Iowa<\/a> \u2013 will be in the house to mingle with fans of his future college destination.<\/p>\n It also sounds like<\/a> he\u2019ll be hopping on the mic to lend some commentary during the DeSanto\/Gross match as well.<\/p>\n If Sunday\u2019s Iowa\/Oklahoma State dual<\/a> was the \u2018main course\u2019 on this week\u2019s wrestling menu then Lee\/Ono, DeSanto\/Gross and a Bo Bassett special appearance should make for one heck of a \u2018dessert\u2019 for Hawkeye fans.<\/p>\n The post Spencer Lee headlines star-studded Wednesday event in Coralville<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For the first time since February 2023, Iowa wrestling fans will get the chance to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84218\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Lee vs Ono \u2013 a battle of lightweight dynamos<\/h2>\n
DeSanto vs Gross \u2013 Part Five<\/h2>\n
How to watch<\/h2>\n
One more thing<\/h2>\n