Snyder Will Return to Buckeyes’ Lineup in 2016 for Second Semester

[TomM]

Snyder Will Return to Buckeyes' Lineup in 2016
Went 30-4 and was a Big Ten, NCAA finalist as a freshman

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Kyle Snyder, who intended to  take an Olympic wavier and redshirt for the entirety of the 2015-16 season, will enroll in classes for the spring semester and compete for the Buckeyes this year, head coach Tom Ryan announced today.

Snyder became the youngest freestyle World champion in U.S. wrestling history this past September and continues to train for the 2016 Summer Olympics. His 2015-16 debut will come Feb. 5 when Ohio State travels to State College, Pa. to tangle with No. 1 Penn State. Prior to that, he is slated to participate in the Ivan Yarygin Memorial Grand Prix Jan. 29-31 and the Alexander Medved International Feb. 18-19. Snyder could also compete in the Buckeyes' dual vs. Wisconsin on Feb. 12. He will wrestle in the Big Ten Championships (March 5-6, 2016 at Iowa City, Iowa) and the NCAA Championships (March 17-19, 2016 at Madison Square Garden, New York City). Snyder originally committed to the Buckeyes three years ago today (Jan. 1, 2013).

"Kyle is a leader and recognizes that his team can win a second consecutive NCAA title by his return to the lineup," said Ryan, the 2015 National Coach of the Year. "He has selflessly chosen to enroll second semester and compete in four events. Kyle is mature beyond his years and our team will get a great boost with his return. His choice speaks volumes about him as well as the culture of the program. He will continue to focus his training on making the Olympic team in April as he will travel overseas twice over the next two months leading up to the Big Ten's and NCAA's."

"I'm excited to be back on the mat helping my teammates as we chase another title," said Snyder, who will compete for the Buckeyes at heavyweight. "I can get all the freestyle experience I need to be prepared for the Trials in April while also wrestling at the collegiate level. I love Ohio State, the wrestling program and want to do all I can to add to its championship history. This was a well-thought-out plan and I am excited to see how it unfolds."

Snyder's explosion to the top of the freestyle scene is well documented – last summer, he won gold at the U.S. Open, U.S. World Team Trials, Pan Am Games and World Championships. Along the way, he defeated 2012 Olympic goal medalist Jake Varner three times and edged returning World champion Abdusalam Gadisov of Russia the gold medal match at the World Championships. Snyder is currently No. 1 at 97kg (215 lbs.) in the United World Wrestling freestyle rankings. He has already qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, which is slated to take place April 8-10 at Carver Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.

In his freshman season for the Scarlet and Gray, Snyder went 30-4 with a team-high 15 major decisions and two technical falls. He was the Big Ten and NCAA runner up at 197 pounds, finishing 15-1 in the regular season against Big Ten competition. His victory over defending champion J'Den Cox in the 197 lbs. NCAA semifinals was instrumental in helping Ohio State earn its first team national title in school history.

In the classroom, Snyder, a sport industry major, is a OSU Scholar-Athlete and was named in August to the NWCA True Freshman All-Academic Team.

[TLV]

I saw that today on the "other" board, Tom. It makes    for   some interesting thoughts. 1), How much will he weigh? Bannak was only about 210 and so  was guy who won the Olympics at 220 and became a professional "wrestler"....I'm having a senior moment and can't remember his name. But, I remember reading that his senior year he was having a hard time keeping on weight and was less than 210 for much of the season.  2) with only a couple of matches under his belt....perhaps 5 or so, does he even qualify for seeding at the Big10 meet? 3) Yes, he's national runner-up albeit at 197, but will he qualify for seeding at the NCAAs??? I think that he has a hard time beating Gwiz......even if he is unseedable, 3) do the seeders keep him on the other bracket hoping to set up a Gwiz/Snyder final? This is gonna be intereting to watch,  especial as he is going to be alternating between Folkstyle and Freestyle for the next 2.5 months. 4) Is this gonna cause Cael to pull out his hair? He redshirted several studs last year figuring that it was OSU's year no matter what. Does this screw things up for PSU.??

[MarkK]

I read that today and was pretty puzzled by it too.  His motivation seems to be to help Ohio state win but the seeding thing makes me wonder as well. 

I think the Olympian you are thinking about is Kurt Angle.

[Ghetto]

Kyle Snyder is a WORLD champion. You don't think he can wrestle in the Big Ten? He's been training at the OTC anyway, with the same guys. All he's done is put some folkstyle matches in as training for the Olympics.

He doesn't have to qualify to be in the Olympic trials, so there's no pressure to jump in and out of the team setting. Plus, there were plenty of guys who just competed in the US Senior Nationals a few weeks ago who are on college wrestlers.

I think it was Ben Askren who said that our best results in freestyle have come right off of, or a year out from, a college season. Maybe Snyder is looking at that as well.

[TLV]

Yes, Kurt Angle. Thanks.

[littleguy301]

The only concern is how much Synder is going to wrestle at.

Remember 2 weeks after the NCAA there will be the trials. I dont think he wants to cut to much in those 3 weeks to be ready to wrestle.

With that said, if Synder is coming in at 225-230 will that be enough to handle Gwizz, Walz, Coon and others. Those 3 are 260 plus and that will be 25-30 pounds minimun more and plus those 3 guys plus many others are plenty athletic and very good wrestlers. Any see Qwizz shoot a low single at the midlands?

[Ghetto]

If Snyder AAs, that will be more points than tOSU would have scored at heavy. He doesn't have to make the finals to make them better as a team. I don't think he can beat Gwiz, but I do think he can beat Walz and Coon. I think he'd struggle with Telford too because of the size. But things fall crazy at NCAAs. Guys lose that "shouldn't" and end up in weird spots in the brackets.

[littleguy301]

If Snyder AAs, that will be more points than tOSU would have scored at heavy. He doesn't have to make the finals to make them better as a team. I don't think he can beat Gwiz, but I do think he can beat Walz and Coon. I think he'd struggle with Telford too because of the size. But things fall crazy at NCAAs. Guys lose that "shouldn't" and end up in weird spots in the brackets.

I agree with that statement except that I certainly hope he doesnt struggle with Telford or I am going to serious question the NCAA rules.

Actually I was looking at the HWT class and with Synder it could be one of the deepest class at the NCAA tournament.