Kyle Frederick Snyder (born November 20, 1995) is an American freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler who competes at 97 kilograms. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division of Real American Freestyle (RAF), where he is the current RAF Light Heavyweight Champion.
Snyder is the youngest wrestler ever to win the world, NCAA, and Olympic championships in the same year—a triple crown of American wrestling not accomplished in a generation until he completed his sweep at the 2016 Rio Olympics.,
Snyder, nicknamed "Snyderman", became the first Olympic gold medalist to return to college and win an NCAA title, clinching his second consecutive NCAA heavyweight title in 2017 despite tearing cartilage in his chest in the quarter-finals and being outweighed by upwards of 40 pounds throughout the tournament. In 2018, Snyder won his third straight individual NCAA title as a heavyweight, this time being outweighed by nearly 60 pounds "in one of the biggest size differences in an NCAA championship match in history", and became the first three-time NCAA heavyweight champion in nearly 30 years.
Along the way he became the youngest American, and only the eleventh ever, to win the Ivan Yarygin Memorial Grand Prix, widely considered the toughest open wrestling tournament in the world. Snyder dominated it with three technical-falls and then a pin in the finals. The following year Snyder became the first American man not only to win back-to-back Yarygin titles, but the only one to win the prestigious tournament more than once at all, earning him Best Foreign Wrestler honors from his Russian hosts.
In 2017, Snyder defeated Abdulrashid Sadulaev at the 2017 World Championships, marking Sadulaev's first loss in his last 75 matches and the third one in his senior career. This come-from-behind victory earned Team USA its first World Championship in over 20 years and Snyder his third consecutive individual World or Olympic championship, and led to Snyder being ranked as the best pound-for-pound freestyle wrestler on the planet by Flowrestling in September 2017, a title he would retain in their June 2018 rankings. Snyder's accomplishments led him to being named the winner of the 2017 AAU Sullivan Award, presented annually to top amateur athlete in the United States. He ended his collegiate career as the second wrestler to win the NCAA, World, and Olympic championships as a student athlete.
Career In his first three years of high school at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Olney, Maryland, Snyder amassed a 179–0 record, won three prep national championships, and only conceded a single takedown. Named the national high school wrestler of the year by both Intermat and ASICS, Snyder was also ranked as the #1 pound-for-pound high school wrestler in America by FloWrestling after his junior season. He spent his senior year training at the United States Olympic Training Center, competing internationally for Team USA. He won a junior world championship in 2013, while becoming the youngest two-time junior world medalist in American history in 2014.
To begin his collegiate wrestling career, Snyder accepted a scholarship from the Ohio State Buckeyes, helping them to an NCAA team championship as a true freshman by finishing as runner-up to a fifth-year senior, Iowa State's Kyven Gadson, in the national finals. A few weeks later, he defeated returning Olympic gold medalist Jake Varner to represent the U.S. on its 2015 World Team, then became the youngest world champion in American wrestling history by dethroning the reigning world champion. Snyder continued his extraordinary run by returning to Ohio State and rallying for an overtime victory over NC State's Nick Gwiazdowski, the returning back-to-back heavyweight national champion. Even giving away more than 30 pounds, Snyder ended Gwiazdowski's 88-match win streak, and earn his first individual NCAA title as a true sophomore.
A few months later, Snyder won his historic gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics, capping his unprecedented streak of winning wrestling's three most prestigious championships in succession before his 21st birthday, defeating the man holding each title along the way.
After returning to Ohio State and winning his second consecutive NCAA heavyweight title at the end of an undefeated 2016–2017 wrestling season, Snyder would avenge his loss to Gadson in the finals of America's 2017 World Team Trials, sweeping him with two straight tech falls and a cumulative score of 23–2. He then faced another historic bout in the finals of the 2017 Paris World Championships: with Russia and the U.S. tied for first place at 53 points, Snyder stepped onto the mat for "The Match of the Century"—the team championship, an individual title at 97 kg, and two young legacies were on the line. His opponent was Abdulrashid Sadulaev, a young Russian phenom on a three-year undefeated streak that included two world championships as well as an Olympic gold, who was then considered the best pound-for-pound wrestler in the world.
Sadulaev moved up a weight class to challenge Snyder, and quickly took a 2–0 lead early in their finals match. Snyder battled back and tied the match 3–3 before the end of the first period, only to have Sadulaev score another takedown and regain the lead. A lead that lasted until the final 20 seconds of the match when Snyder's furious pace allowed him to score a late takedown at the edge of the mat—sealing Team USA's first World Championship in over 20 years, Snyder's third consecutive individual World or Olympic championship, and wresting the title of best pound-for-pound wrestler on the planet away from Sadulaev.
In a story recounted to The Washington Post by his college coach, Tom Ryan, after Snyder's thrilling come-from-behind overtime victory to clinch his first NCAA heavyweight title in front of a sold-out Madison Square Garden, a match chosen by fans to be the final one of the night and broadcast live in primetime to millions on ESPN, – a maintenance worker approached Ryan to let him know what made Snyder, who'd already made wrestling history as America's youngest world champion and was named Most Outstanding Wrestler of those NCAA Championships, stand out from his competition the most that weekend: he'd been the only athlete in the tournament who continually thanked him for refilling the stadium's water jugs.,
Snyder (USA) lost 0:10 early to Akhmed Tazhudinov (Bahrain) at the World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade 2023
Freestyle record
! colspan="7"| Senior Freestyle Matches |- ! Res. ! Record ! Opponent ! Score ! Date ! Event ! Location
! style=background:white colspan=7 | |- |Win |216-22 |align=left| Abdulrashid Sadulaev |style="font-size:88%"|Fall |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=1|11 July 2026 |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=1|RAF Georgia |style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=1| Tbilisi, Georgia |- ! style=background:white colspan=7 | |- |Win |215-22 |align=left| Givi Matcharashvili |style="font-size:88%"|TF 10–0 |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=1|30 May 2026 |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=1|RAF 09 |style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=1| Arlington, Texas |- ! style=background:white colspan=7 | |- |Win |214-22 |align=left| Rizabek Aitmukhan |style="font-size:88%"|12–6 |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=1|18 April 2026 |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=1|RAF 08 |style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=1| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |- ! style=background:white colspan=7 | |- |Win |213-22 |align=left| Akhmed Tazhudinov |style="font-size:88%"|3–3 |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=1|28 March 2026 |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=1|RAF 07 |style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=1| Tampa, Florida |- ! style=background:white colspan=7 | |- |Win | |align=left| Magomedkhan Magomedov |style="font-size:88%"|FF |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5|February 25, 2026 |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5|2026 Muhamet Malo Tournament |style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=5| Tirana, Albania |- |Win |212-22 |align=left| Richárd Végh |style="font-size:88%"|TF 10-0 |- |Loss |211-22 |align=left| Mukhamed-Takhir Khaniev |style="font-size:88%"|4-10 |- |Win |211-21 |align=left| Radu Lefter |style="font-size:88%"|9-4 |- |Win |210-21 |align=left| Ertuğrul Ağca |style="font-size:88%"|3-0 |- ! style=background:white colspan=7 | |- |Win |209-21 |align=left| Amir Ali Azarpira |style="font-size:88%"|4-2 |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=4|September 14-15, 2025 |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=4|2025 World Championships |style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=4| Zagreb, Croatia |- |Win |208-21 |align=left| Arash Yoshida |style="font-size:88%"|9-1 |- |Win |207-21 |align=left| Zbigniew Baranowski |style="font-size:88%"|5-0 |- |Win |206-21 |align=left| Cristian Sarco |style="font-size:88%"|TF 10–0 |- ! style=background:white colspan=7 | |- |Win |205-21 |align=left| Hayden Zillmer |style="font-size:88%"|8–2 |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=2|June 14, 2025 |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=2|2025 Final X |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=2| Newark, New Jersey |- |Win |204-21 |align=left| Hayden Zillmer |style="font-size:88%"|8–0 |- ! style=background:white colspan=7 | |- |Win |203-21 |align=left| Jonathan Aiello |style="font-size:88%"|TF 11–0 |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=4|April 23, 2025 |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=4|2025 US Open |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=4| Las Vegas, Nevada |- |Win |202-21 |align=left| Gavin Hoffman |style="font-size:88%"|TF 10–0 |- |Win |201-21 |align=left| Tyrie Houghton |style="font-size:88%"|TF 10–0 |- |Win |200-21 |align=left| Austin Kohlhofer |style="font-size:88%"|TF 10–0 |- ! style=background:white colspan=7 | |- |Win |199–21 |align=left| Dato Piruzashvili |style="font-size:88%"|TF 11–0 |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=4|February 27, 2025 |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=4|2025 Muhamet Malo Tournament |style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=4| Tirana, Albania |- |Loss |198–21 |align=left| Arash Yoshida |style="font-size:88%"|5–5 |- |Win |198–20 |align=left| Aliaksandr Hushtyn |style="font-size:88%"|3–0 |- |Win |197–20 |align=left| Mojtaba Goleij |style="font-size:88%"|3–2 |- |Win |196–20 |align=left| Rizabek Aitmukhan |style="font-size:88%"|8–0 |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=2|February 25, 2025 |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=2|PWL 8 |style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=2| Almaty, Kazakhstan |- |Win |195–20 |align=left| Konstantin Pshenichnikov |style="font-size:88%"|7–3 |- ! style=background:white colspan=7 | |- |Win |194-20 |align=left| Abolfazl Babaloo |style="font-size:88%"|TF 12-1 |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=3|February 6, 2025 |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=3|2025 Zagreb Open |style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=3| Zagreb, Croatia |- |Win |193-20 |align=left| Batyrbek Tsakulov |style="font-size:88%"|TF 10–0 |- |Win |192-20 |align=left| Richárd Végh |style="font-size:88%"|TF 11-0 |- ! style=background:white colspan=7 | |- |Win |191-20 |align=left| Michael Macchiavello |style="font-size:88%"|TF 11-1 |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=2|November 8-9, 2024 |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=2|2024 Bill Farrell Memorial International |style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=2| New York City, New York |- |Win |190-20 |align=left| Gary Traub |style="font-size:88%"|TF 10-0 |- ! style=background:white colspan=7 | |- |Loss |189–20 |align=left| Amir Ali Azarpira |style="font-size:88%"|1–4 |style="font-size:88%"|11 August 2024 |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=4|2024 Summer Olympics |style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=4| Paris, France |- |Loss |189–19 |align=left| Akhmed Tazhudinov |style="font-size:88%"|4–6 |style="font-size:88%" rowspan=3|10 August 2024 |- |Win |189–18 |align=left| Arturo Silot |style="font-size:88%"|Fall |- |Win |188–18 |align=left| Habila Awusayiman |style="font-size:88%"|9–5 |- ! style=background:white colspan=7 | |- |Win |187-18 |align=left| Isaac Trumble |style="font-size:88%"|4–0