Rio Olympics 2016: Kyle Snyder is youngest U.S. wrestler to win gold
The 20-year-old is the 50th American to win Olympic gold in freestyle wrestling

Kyle Snyder is only 20 years old, but he already has a world championship, an NCAA title and now an Olympic gold medal in wrestling. And all of that happened in the span of a year.
The Ohio State junior defeated Khetag Gozyumov of Azerbaijan, 2-1, in the final for the 97kg class to claim an Olympic title in Rio de Janeiro.
Snyder is the youngest American ever to win gold in freestyle wrestling, while he also became the 50th wrestler to bring home an Olympic gold for USA Wrestling. So things are going pretty well for the young fella, who also is the youngest wrestler ever to win a world championship.
May we introduce the youngest Olympic champion in U.S. history & the 50th U.S. Olympic #gold@Snyder_man45! pic.twitter.com/k0z6V95JPC
— USA Wrestling (@USAWrestling) August 21, 2016
The Woodbine, Md., native took out an Olympic veteran in Gozyumov to claim his gold. The Azerbaijani wrestler is 13 years Snyder's senior and had previously won the bronze medal in two Olympics - 2012 and 2008. He also was the 2010 world champion and three-time European champion in the weight class. So this was no pushover for the American collegian.
Snyder earned his first point by forcing Gazyumov to step out in the first period. He took a 2-0 lead in the second period after Gazyumov was warned for passivity, putting him on the shot clock, giving him 30 seconds to gain a point. Snyder didn't give the veteran Olympian a chance, earning the point. Gazyumov then earned a point late in the period after Snyder was put on the shot clock, but it wasn't enough as the American held on for the win.
With Snyder's gold, the U.S. has had at least one gold medalist in men's freestyle wrestling in every Olympics they've contested in since 1972.
















