Kyle Snyder’s quest for greatness knows no bounds
There are no clouds around Kyle Snyder even though he stands atop the metaphorical Mount Olympus in wrestling.
Snyder is the reigning Olympic, world and U.S. freestyle champion, as well as an NCAA and Big Ten champion, at 21. Medals gravitate to his thick neck.
Yet accrued accomplishments don’t prevent Snyder from clearly seeing other worlds to conquer, including one this week for the Ohio State junior, a heavyweight on the wrestling team.
“I like doing things that people have never done before,” said Snyder, who on Wednesday was named one of six finalists for the James E. Sullivan Award, given annually to the nation’s outstanding amateur athlete.
Snyder has memories to create, not savor. He’s in St. Louis with OSU to compete in the NCAA Tournament today through Saturday. He aims to defend his national title in the 285-pound More wrestling preview coverage /
weight class and lead the Buckeyes to a second team title in three seasons.
“He has a mantra: Don’t protect anything,” Ohio State coach Tom Ryan said. “Those are words that simplify and get him into a level of focus that he needs to be in. ‘Keep challenging yourself. Don’t stand on what you’ve done in the past.’”
What Snyder, from Woodbine, Maryland, has already done is legendary.
As a 19-year-old in 2015, Snyder followed his freshman season at Ohio State by becoming the youngest American wrestler to win U.S. and world championships in international freestyle. He followed that with an epic win in the NCAA final a year ago.
Snyder’s fame intensified last August when he became the youngest American wrestler, at 20, to win an Olympic gold medal by capturing the 97-kilogram (213 pounds) division in Rio de Janeiro.
“How do you keep him inspired?” Ryan said. “Once you’ve reached the moon, flying to Colorado isn’t such a big deal. But this dude is unreal. He has an off-thecharts way of thinking.”
Motivation isn’t an issue, Snyder said, because his inner drive isn’t rooted in victory. Instead, his daily focus is on mastering minute aspects of his sport, not pondering results.
“If I were to focus on my accomplishments alone, I would be done,” Snyder said. “I’ve accomplished everything there is to accomplish in the sport. But when I focus on things I value, the sport of wrestling itself, I feel pretty motivated just because there’s a lot more at wrestling that I can get better at.”
Don’t mistake that narrow focus as lacking in a thrill for Noon-3:30 p.m. 7-10:30 p.m. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. 8-11 p.m. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. 8-11 p.m.
the hunt. Snyder’s long-term goal is to win five Olympic gold medals. Those who know him best don’t expect his pursuit to tire.
“He really just has an extreme passion for wrestling, unlike anybody I’ve ever seen,” said Kevin Snyder, his brother, roommate and a redshirt-freshman wrestler at Ohio State.
Snyder’s love for the sport, and hunger to improve, is why he’s competing in collegiate wrestling, with its different rules, while also participating in international freestyle events. In the past year, he has competed in Germany, Brazil, Russia, Iran and Ukraine for Team USA.
“No one has ever gone overseas to wrestle Russians and Iranians in the middle of a college season and wrestle in the college season,” Ryan said. “He’s in uncharted waters.”
Snyder also faces a unique challenge because he wrestles
at 225 pounds in an NCAA division with a weight limit of 285. His Big Ten title win two weeks ago came against Connor Medbery of Wisconsin, who outweighed him by 40 pounds.
That victory improved Snyder to 12-0 for OSU this season. He’s lost a couple of times in international competition in the past year, but he has won 23 straight college matches since losing two years ago in the 197-pound NCAA final.
“I’m sure people are gunning for me,” Snyder said. “People wrestle me as hard as they can, which is good, because I want to wrestle the best version of everybody.”
Snyder is too busy searching for the best of himself to think about what has been or might never be.
“I just live in the moment,” he said.