KYLE SNYDER from page 5
didn’t win either of them. I took bronze in both, but I wrestled some really tough guys. I learned a lot. The most important thing for me is to just keep improving, keep valuing the wrestling, keep growing as a wrestler in different positions and I think that I’m doing that,” said Snyder. After winning the Big Ten title, the potential Snyder vs. Gwiazdowski matchup became the big buzz prior to the NCAA Championships in New York City. Snyder wanted to win his first NCAA title, after losing in the 197-pound finals as a freshman. Gwiazdowski was looking to go out his senior year as a three- time NCAA champion, making him one of the greatest big men in collegiate history. Although they were from different weight classes, they had some previous history training together. “We trained together a lot this summer. He comes up to Ohio
State and trains, a decent amount last year and we made the decision we were texting back and forth to see how each other was doing. He's a good guy and we didn't think we were going to wrestle each other,” said Snyder.
Both wrestlers did their job in the early rounds, advancing to the championship finals. Gwiazdowski won a 3-2 nail-biter over No. 5 Adam Coon of Michigan in his semifinal, while Snyder stopped No. 3 Ty Walz of Virginia Tech, 10-6. The NCAA decid- ed to make their heavyweight showdown the last match of the finals evening. Gwiazdowski entered the finals on an 88-match win streak, while Snyder had only wrestled 10 folkstyle bouts prior to their battle.
The match began with both men making single leg attempts they could not complete, and an active first period ended 0-0. Gwiazdowski took over the match after that, scoring two take- downs and building a 5-3 lead with one-minute remaining. With time running out, Snyder hit a low single to knot things up at 5-5 and force sudden victory. Early in the first overtime, Snyder got in on Gwiazdowski’s legs and converted for the win- ning takedown, 7-5. “Nick's a great wrestler, great competitor,” Snyder said. “But it was a fun match. I think it will go down as one of the most excit- ing heavyweight matches in NCAA history. And obviously I'm happy that the end result was to get my hand raised. But I think
I improved as a wrestler throughout the match, too, and that was fun.”
While all 10 of the NCAA champions had qualified for the Olympic Trials, by winning the World title in Las Vegas in September, Snyder earned the right to move directly into the best- of-three finals series at 97 kg. Only four athletes had this advan- tage after winning a 2015 World medal at an Olympic weight class, Snyder, Jordan Burroughs, Adeline Gray and Andy Bisek. Just like the anticipation for his NCAA final match, the wrestling community was clamoring for the finals at 97 kg to fea- ture Snyder against Varner, another Battle of the Titans. If it happened, it would only be the second time that a defending Olympic champion and a defending World champion would bat- tle for a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team. The previous time came in the 1988 Olympic Trials in Pensacola, Fla., when 1987 World champion John Smith battled 1984 Olympic champion Randy Lewis, a series won by John Smith. Varner held up his part of the bargain, powering through the Challenge Tournament. He beat Enoch Francois, Kyven Gadson and Dustin Kilgore in a row, not allowing a point and outscoring them 21-0. Varner was looking strong and sharp in those bouts. Varner came out hard in the first match and scored a 4-4 win by criteria. In the second match, Snyder had the edge for a 4-0 victory, scoring the only takedowns. It came down to a deciding third match, which, by chance, ended up being the last match of the entire Olympic Trials competition. You couldn’t have drawn things up better for the fans.
“It was pretty nerve-wracking,” admitted Snyder. “I had all intentions of winning the first match and winning two in a row. But that is why the sport of wrestling is great because you never know what is going to happen. You never know if you are going to win or lose, all you can do is just prepare. Thankfully Coach (Lou) Rosselli lost the first match in the 1996 Olympic Trials. He had some good words to tell me and that calmed me down.” Snyder struck first in the final match, getting an arm drag to a
takedown for a 2-0 lead. He added another point on a pushout to take a 3-0 lead into the break. In the second period, about a minute in, Snyder finished off a leg attack to a takedown, push- ing to a 5-0 lead. Another pushout made it 6-0. Varner was only able to score on a pushout with 13 seconds to go, but it ended that way, as Snyder controlled the action for a 6-1 win. Kyle Snyder was going to Rio. After the match, speaking to John Smith and Jason Knapp on the NBC telecast, Snyder talked about the adjustments he had to make to beat such an outstanding opponent under pressure. “I adjusted my stance. I wasn’t in an attack position. I think my feet were too square and it made it hard to get to his legs. He is such a good wrestler. It is hard to finish on his hips, so I had to hit him lower. I thought that if I got to his legs, I’d have a good chance of finishing. In the first match, I came up to his body. I needed to stay on his leg. I made a couple of adjustments,” said Snyder.
Snyder told the national television audience how much this win meant to him.
“This is the most special one so far. Last year’s Worlds were awesome, but the Olympics are a little bit different. Everyone knows that. All eyes are on you and that is what I like. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my summer training as hard as I possi- bly can, so I can represent the United States of America to the best of my ability,” he said.
It all comes back to that simple approach. Train hard. Compete against the best.
Kyle Snyder defends a leg shot from Jake Varner in the Olympic Trials finals at 97 kg. John Sachs photo.
6 USA Wrestler
It will be exciting to see what Kyle Snyder has ready for the world when he steps onto the Olympic mats in Rio de Janeiro in August.
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