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  • Photo: Photo/John Sachs

    Photo: Photo/John Sachs

    Snyder named Ohio State Male Athlete of 2016

    The honors and achievements keep adding up for wrestler Kyle Snyder, as Ohio State has named him the Male Athlete of the Year, the Columbus-based university announced Monday.

    Catherine Shields of the Ohio State rowing team was named Female Athlete of the Year. Both Shields and Snyder are now on the ballot for Big Ten Athlete of the Year which will be determined later this summer.

    Snyder, who just completed his sophomore year wrestling for the Buckeyes, was crowned heavyweight champ at both the 2016 Big Ten conference championships and the 2016 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, where he defeated two-time defending champ Nick Gwiazdowski of North Carolina State in overtime, ending the Wolfpack big man's 88-match winning streak. Snyder compiled a perfect 11-0 record this year. Eight of Snyder's wins resulted in bonus points by scoring a fall, technical fall or major decision. He scored 20 points in seven bouts, averaging 18.6 points per match.

    Kyle Snyder and Nick Gwiazdowski battle in the NCAA finals at heavyweight (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)
    Snyder's success on the mat goes far beyond his collegiate career. In world freestyle competition, the Woodbine, Md. native will be wrestling for the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in August, having defeated 2012 Olympic gold medalist Jake Varner to earn that spot on the team. Just this past weekend, Snyder was a perfect 4-0 at the 2016 World Cup freestyle competition in Los Angeles. In addition, Snyder is a U.S. Open champion, U.S. Team Trials champion, and Pan Am Games gold medalist. For all these accomplishments, Snyder is now No. 1 in the UWW (United World Wrestling) freestyle world rankings at 97 kilograms/213 pounds.

    For his wrestling accomplishments, Snyder has earned a number of honors this year. He was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the 2016 NCAAs. Snyder was also a finalist for the Dan Hodge Trophy, considered the Heisman Trophy of college wrestling. This spring, Snyder was named USA Wrestling's Freestyle Wrestler of the Year.

    It is the third straight year a wrestler has been named the Ohio State Male Athlete of the Year, an award first established in 1982. Snyder follows four-time NCAA champ Logan Stieber, who earned that honor in both 2014 and 2015. Current Buckeye assistant wrestling coach J Jaggers was the school's Male Athlete of the Year in 2009.

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