Eighteen months ago, Kyle Snyder was a heralded prospect on the Ohio State wrestling team – even if largely unknown to folks outside of head coach Tom Ryan's program.
Along the way, he became the youngest American to win an Olympic gold medal and a World Championship, while also finding time to win an NCAA title by snapping the defending champion's 88-match winning-streak. Now. Snyder is the most accomplished athlete representing the Scarlet and Gray.
But how much of Snyder can Ohio State fans expect to see this year?
If you'll recall, Snyder was slated to take a redshirt to focus on his international mat work as a sophomore last season. It made sense – he was fresh off the World Championship and had his eyes on the 2016 Summer Olympics. But, in a surprise move, Ohio State pulled Snyder's redshirt on New Year's Day and he went on to finish 11–0 on the way to his NCAA Championship at heavyweight.
The short answer is that we'll see more of Snyder than we saw last year, but he'll still have international obligations.
More Snyder
“Our staff met with Kyle a few weeks ago. As soon as USA Wrestling released their schedule, that's when we kind of plugged it in to see where it works for Kyle,” Ryan told Eleven Warriors.
“He will be in all but one of our home duals. The thinking is our fans are buying season tickets – they're coming to watch us. Let's make sure the home crowd gets to see him. He'll also appear in quite a few away duals. Last year was pretty sparse but this year you'll see quite a bit more of him.”
Ohio State only has four true home dual meets this season – No. 5 Missouri (Dec. 8), Rutgers (Jan. 8), No. 10 Illinois (Jan. 15) and No. 6 Penn State (Feb. 3) – due to two duals being moved to honor team members. The Buckeyes will welcome Northwestern to Wadsworth High School, home of heavyweight Nick Tavanello, on Dec. 18 and will face Maryland at Good Counsel High School, Snyder's prep program in Olney, Md. on Jan. 22.
While Snyder appearing at the match in Wadsworth is up in the air, you can bet he'll be on the mat for the Buckeyes in front of his hometown crowd against Maryland. As for the true home matches, Missouri, Rutgers and Penn State will all be televised by BTN, so if we're guessing, he won't be available for the Illinois match.
Snyder captures his NCAA Championship at heavyweight in March.
Looking at Ohio State's road schedule, Snyder's expected to wrestle in the opener at Arizona State (Nov. 19), but will be out of the country for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite in early December.
“He will be in Iran for Vegas. He will be in Russia for a dual meet or two. At the Yarygin, and other than that, he'll probably be with us,” Ryan said.
The Ivan Yarygin Memorial International, nicknamed the “Toughest Tournament in the World,” is significant because Snyder will miss the dual meet with Iowa – considered the favorite to win the Big Ten.
As for Snyder's future, beyond this year?
“He plans to get his degree,” his coach said.
Heading to the Ohio State–Northwestern game Saturday? The wrestling team is holding an open practice at the south end of St. John Arena at 12:30 p.m.
