Kyle Snyder becomes youngest Olympic wrestling gold medalist in U.S. history

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:13 p.m. ET

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Damon Martin

Kyle Snyder said he wanted to one day be remembered as the greatest wrestler of all time.

He's off to a great start to realize that dream after the Maryland native won a gold medal in the 2016 Olympics at just 20 years of age. Snyder is just about three months younger than  Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo, who held the previous record from his win in 2008.

Snyder has quickly become one of the most talked about stories in all of wrestling after an improbable run to win the World Championships last year when he was just 19.

Snyder pushed through former gold medalist Jake Varner to make it to the games this year before he entered a very deep field at 97kg.

It wasn't an easy run for Snyder after entering the tournament as the No. 5 seed overall but he tore through a competitive field until he found himself in the final match against two-time bronze medalist Khetag Gazyumov from Azerbaijan.

Snyder is best known as an offensive juggernaut on the mats but he had to use real mat savvy to beat Gazyumov over three periods to earn the gold medal. Gazyumov actually defeated Snyder in a tournament in Germany about seven weeks ago in another low scoring affair so this was another grueling battle of inches.

Snyder scored early with a push out and then got another point when Gazyumov was warned for passivity about midway through the match. Snyder was penalized later for his own passivity but he held off a late charge from Gazyumov to earn the victory and the gold medal for the United States.

The Olympic gold medal wraps up an incredible year for Snyder after winning the World Championships and then winning an NCAA championship when he returned to the Ohio State University as a heavyweight earlier this year.

Snyder also helped keep a streak alive for the U.S. winning a gold medal in men's wrestling in every Olympic games dating back to 1972. He was the last hope for the Americans after 2012 gold medalist Jordan Burroughs was upset and shut out of winning any medals earlier in the week.

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