Kyle Snyder Dominates on the Way to Capturing Gold at the Yarygin Tournament in Russia

A year after he captured bronze in the Ivan Yarygin Memorial Invitational, Ohio State junior wrestler Kyle Snyder is bringing the gold medal home from Russia, winning what's widely considered the toughest wrestling tournament in the world.

And he did it in dominating fashion, collecting three technical falls to go with a pin in the championship.

Snyder was a destroyer on his way to the title at 97kg, winning all four of his matches with ease. In the opening round, he made quick work of China's Chaganxhana, rolling to a quick 11-0 victory. He followed, dispatching Belbute Munkhzhargal of Mongolia and Hossein Ramnezaiainjelodar of Iran in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, by identical 11-1 scores.

Snyder's opponent in the finals was Rasul Magomedov of Russia, winner of golds at the Alarosa Cup, the Ali Aliev Tournament and the Intercontinental Cup. He was no match for the Buckeye in Krasnoyarsk, the Siberian town that plays host to the annual competition.

Snyder jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after Magomedov was penalized for stalling halfway through the first period. The Russian scored a takedown 30 seconds into the final period and turned Snyder for a four-point move to take a 4-1 lead, but Snyder quickly answered with a takedown of his own to cut the deficit to one.

Trailing by one with 90 seconds remaining, Snyder collected another takedown to retake the lead, 5-4. Seconds later, he pushed Magomedov out for another point to advance his lead to 6-4. Snyder collected a final takedown seconds later and finished with a pin at the 5:02 mark to capture gold.

Snyder becomes only the 11th American man to ever win the Yarygin. Prior to Sunday, the last American men’s freestyle champion was Steve Mocco at 120kg in 2009.

In the last 15 months, Snyder has collected gold medals from the World Championships, the Summer Olympics, and now, the prestigious Ivan Yarygin Memorial International to his impressive trophy case.

Oh, he also managed to squeeze in time to capture an NCAA Championship in March – snapping the defending champion's 88-match winning-streak in the process.

Simply put, he's the most accomplished athlete of any sport currently at Ohio State and may end up going down as one of the best Buckeye student-athletes of all time.

You can catch Snyder in action at the Schottenstein Center Friday night as the Buckeyes welcome No. 2 Penn State to town for a dual meet.