2016 U.S. OLYMPIAN - 97 kg FS Snyder creates two instant classics by Gary Abbott
What could Kyle Snyder, who became the youngest American World champion at age 19 at the 2015 World Champion- ships do as an encore in 2016? How could he top that?
Over an amazing four week period in March and April, Snyder provided the American wrestling community with two different instant classics, adding to the amazing legacy he is establishing in the sport.
If you follow wrestling at all, you proba- bly already know what we are talking about.
On March 19 in New York City, Snyder, representing Ohio State, defeated two- time NCAA champion Nick Gwiazdowski on center mat in Madison Square Garden to win the NCAA Div. I heavyweight title. On April 10, in Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa, representing the Titan Mercury WC, Snyder defeated 2012 Olympic champion Jake Varner in the rubber-match of the best-of-three champi- onship series to win the 97 kg freestyle title at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Both of these matches were the final bout of those exciting tournaments, and both of these battles were shown to the world on national television. For Snyder, the approach is simple.
Wrestle as much as you can against the best possible opponents and you will con- tinue to get better. Based upon his results, this approach is clearly working.
Kyle Snyder gets an ankle pick on Jake Varner in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials finals series at 97 kg. Photo by John Sachs.
“The more you compete the more you allow yourself to be able to learn and improve from the mistakes that you make in each match. Even the things that you do well you can learn to do even better,” Snyder told the media at the pre-event press conference at the NCAA Championships.
“The more you compete the better you are going to get,” Snyder said during the pre-tournament press conference for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
This story actually begins in December, when Snyder and his coaches made a decision for him to come out of an Olympic redshirt and wrestle heavyweight for Ohio State in the second semester. Many questioned if this strategy would work out for Snyder. Although he was the reigning World champion, he would be spending some of his time on folkstyle wrestling, while top rivals including Varner and all the other top stars around the world would be focusing only on freestyle. “When he chose to come out, he didn't
hesitate,” said Ohio State Head Coach Tom Ryan. “With him, we looked at the year. Initially, I thought there was no way he could do it. This is about Kyle Snyder as much as Ohio State. The guy has earned the right to put himself in the best position to be an Olympian.” Although Snyder competed in a few dual meets, as well as the Big Ten Championships, he continued wrestling freestyle in practice. He also took time away from the college schedule to com- pete in two major freestyle tournaments in Europe, where he wrestled many of the best guys in his weight class. Although he was wearing an Ohio State singlet a few times for the Buckeyes, he was also wearing his USA singlet for his nation at the same time.
“I wrestled in two overseas tourna- ments, the Yarygin and the Medved, so I
Kyle Snyder of Ohio State celebrates his 2016 NCAA title. John Sachs photo
Continued on page 6 USA Wrestler 5
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