American wrestlers Spencer Lee, Aaron Brooks and Helen Maroulis to compete in Olympic medal matches

PARIS (AP) — Three U.S. wrestlers – Spencer Lee, Aaron Brooks and Helen Maroulis — will challenge for Olympic freestyle medals after earning their spots on Thursday.

All three will compete in medal matches on Friday.

Lee will go for gold. He dominated the 57-kilogram semifinal from the start, routing Uzbekistan’s Gulomjon Abdullaev 14-4 on technical superiority in under three minutes. The three-time national champion at Iowa advanced to face Japan’s Rei Higuchi.

Lee said it felt like just another day.

“Here we are on the big stage," he said. "I’ve always thought that each tournament is the biggest tournament. That’s how my mind works. So I’ve been joking with the coaches, ‘This is the Olympics, right?’ Because I don’t feel like it’s different from any other tournament.”

Higuchi beat Aman Sehrawat of India 10-0 on technical superiority in the other semifinal.

Brooks will fight for bronze at 86 kilograms against Uzbekistan’s Javrail Shapiev or Canada’s Alex Moore.

Brooks, the four-time national champion at Penn State who defeated Tokyo gold medalist David Taylor at the Olympic trials, opened Thursday by knocking off No. 1 seed Azamat Dauletbekov of Kazakhstan 4-3. He then beat Japan’s Hayato Ishiguro 11-1 and led Bulgaria’s Mahomed Ramazanov 3-0 in the semifinal before Ramazanov rallied and won with a takedown in the final seconds.

Maroulis, a gold medalist in 2016 and a silver medalist in 2021, lost to Tsugumi Sakurai 10-4 in a women’s semifinal at 57 kilograms. She will attempt to become the first American woman to win three Olympic medals when she faces Ecuador's Luisa Valverde or Canada's Hannah Taylor in a bronze-medal match.

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games