Former Ohio State Wrestler Kyle Snyder Earns Silver Medal At Tokyo Olympics

The 25-year-old Snyder was attempting to defend his gold medal from the 2016 Rio Games.

Although he fell to Russia’s Abdulrashid Sadulaev in the final of the men's 97kg freestyle on Saturday morning, former Ohio State wrestler Kyle Snyder still earned the silver medal at this year’s Tokyo Olympics.

Buckeye alum Kyle Snyder claims Olympic Silver at 97 kg for Team USA in Tokyo🇺🇸🥈https://t.co/0UBnXs9Akm

— Ohio State Wrestling (@wrestlingbucks) August 7, 2021

Sadulaev – who is known as the “Russian Tank” – scored the first point of the match on a shot clock violation by Snyder and got a push out soon thereafter to take a 2-0 lead into the second period. He then extended the lead to 6-0 with a pair of two-point counters.

Snyder finally got on the board with a takedown with 45 seconds remaining in the match to cut the deficit to four. He also added a push out with 28 seconds left, adding to the only points scored on Sadulaev in the Olympics, but ultimately fell 6-3.

Sadulaev has now won 56 straight matches dating back to a loss to Snyder in the 2017 World Championships. Snyder, meanwhile, defeated Canada's Jordan Steen, Italy's Abraham Conyedo and Turkey's Suleyman Karadeniz to reach the final.

"I'm a competitor, so I hate to lose," Snyder said after the match. "And I know there's things I got to get better at."

Mandi Wright/USA TODAY Sports

A native of Woodbine, Md., Snyder won three individual NCAA championships during his career at Ohio State from 2015-18. He was also the youngest American wrestler to capture gold at the Olympics, standing atop the podium at the 2016 Rio Games at age 20. 

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