Buckeye sophomore makes World Finals

[mikeytbuckeyes]

Buckeye sophomore wrestler Kyle Snyder (who finished 2nd @ NCAAs as a true freshman) just made the 2015 World Championship finals. This isn't the junior division or anything. These are the guys you see in the Olympics. So, at the ripe old age of 19 Kyle will be going for a senior world title.
In an effort to chase the Olympic dream, Kyle will be taking an Olympic red shirt this year and will not be in the Buckeye lineup. From the looks of things that was a wise move.

[keln]

Wow. I don't know a lot about wrestling, but that's pretty impressive. A Buckeye in the Olympics would be awesome.

[cwerph]

Is Logan going to wrestle for the US in the Olympics?

[mikeytbuckeyes]

Sept 11, 2015 17:11:47 GMT -5 cwerph said:

Is Logan going to wrestle for the US in the Olympics?

Logan is going to try. This year he was kind of in no man's land weight wise. He weighed 141 lbs but the nearest Olympic weight is about 8lbs heavier than him. That may not sound like much but that is at least 8lbs of muscle. Logan wasn't cutting weight that hard his senior year so we are talking about something in the range of 10lbs of muscle in order to be on an equal playing field with the others in his group.
We'll see how much he's grown this time next year. I'd love to see him knock off the guys from Iowa and Oklahoma St (who he beat for his 1st NCAA title) to be the world team/Olympic team member.

[keln]

By the way, I forgot to ask about it. There is an "Olympic redshirt"? Is there some rule that he can't wrestle in college the same year he wrestles in the Olympics? Do the Olympics count as professional sports and negate his college eligibility? It can't be a time thing, since the Olympics are during the summer, not during the fall-spring like college wrestling. I can't see it being a training thing either since I would imagine actual matches being good training.

[mikeytbuckeyes]

Sept 11, 2015 19:59:53 GMT -5 keln said:

By the way, I forgot to ask about it. There is an "Olympic redshirt"? Is there some rule that he can't wrestle in college the same year he wrestles in the Olympics? Do the Olympics count as professional sports and negate his college eligibility? It can't be a time thing, since the Olympics are during the summer, not during the fall-spring like college wrestling. I can't see it being a training thing either since I would imagine actual matches being good training.

An Olympic red shirt allows you to train specifically for the Olympic competition in lieu of wrestling the college season while not losing any NCAA eligibility. The Olympic and folk styles of wrestling are significantly different and Americans usually take time to acclimate. We are the only country to wrestle folk style while the rest of the world wrestles the Olympic style year round.
The Olympics do not count as professional sports but I'm not sure what is done with any money he earns should he win a world or Olympic gold medal. There isn't a rule that a person can't compete in college and the Olympics in the same year but given how different the styles are they need the time to train.

[keln]

Sept 11, 2015 21:09:36 GMT -5 mikeytbuckeyes said:

Sept 11, 2015 19:59:53 GMT -5 keln said:

By the way, I forgot to ask about it. There is an "Olympic redshirt"? Is there some rule that he can't wrestle in college the same year he wrestles in the Olympics? Do the Olympics count as professional sports and negate his college eligibility? It can't be a time thing, since the Olympics are during the summer, not during the fall-spring like college wrestling. I can't see it being a training thing either since I would imagine actual matches being good training.

An Olympic red shirt allows you to train specifically for the Olympic competition in lieu of wrestling the college season while not losing any NCAA eligibility. The Olympic and folk styles of wrestling are significantly different and Americans usually take time to acclimate. We are the only country to wrestle folk style while the rest of the world wrestles the Olympic style year round.
The Olympics do not count as professional sports but I'm not sure what is done with any money he earns should he win a world or Olympic gold medal. There isn't a rule that a person can't compete in college and the Olympics in the same year but given how different the styles are they need the time to train.

Hmm. I didn't know that. Is there a reason why Americans wrestle with a different style than Olympic? It seems as if that might put us at a disadvantage.

[mikeytbuckeyes]

Not sure why we feel the need to be "special" and wrestle folk style when the rest of the world doesn't. It does place us at a disadvantage but many (myself included) love folk style as well as free style (Olympic style) so I don't see it going anywhere.

[keln]

It seems to me, since wrestling is one of the original sports in the ancient Olympics, that the style should be Greek-Roman style. I wonder why that is no longer practiced at a competitive level.

You know, minus the whole being nekkid thing.

[mikeytbuckeyes]

Holy crap he won! Kyle Snyder just became the youngest person in US wrestling history to win a world title. The guy he beat in the finals was amazingly good and ranked #2 in the world. I'm in complete shock at what that guy just accomplished.

[keln]

Sept 11, 2015 23:29:22 GMT -5 mikeytbuckeyes said:

Holy crap he won! Kyle Snyder just became the youngest person in US wrestling history to win a world title. The guy he beat in the finals was amazingly good and ranked #2 in the world. I'm in complete shock at what that guy just accomplished.

AND...he's a Buckeye.

[mikeytbuckeyes]

To put this guy's accomplishment into perspective allow me to draw some comparisons to some of the past wrestling greats:

Dan Gable ('71 World Champ, '72 Olympic Champ) didn't win his World title until he was out of college. While in college he wasn't even close to even making a world team.

Tom Brands (current Iowa head coach, 95 World Champ, 96 Olympic Champ) didn't win his first world title until he was 2 or 3 years removed from college. While in college he, too, wasn't even close to making the world team.

John Smith (current Oklahoma St head coach, '87, '89-'91 World Champ, '88 & '92 Olympic Champ) was a red shirt junior when he won his first World title (Kyle is a true sophomore). John is the current standard to which all US wrestlers are compared when speaking about international competition.

Cael Sanderson (current Penn St Head coach, 2003 World Silver Medal, 2004 Olympic Champ) Cael didn't medal until the year after he graduated college and even then it was a silver. His freestyle accomplishments during his college days were not impressive as he was not even close to even making the world team. His success didn't happen internationally until after college.

Kurt Angle (1995 World Champ, 1996 Olympic Champ) Kurt was 3 years removed from college before he won his world championship.

There are some phenomenal wrestlers who have never won a world title at the senior level. Here Kyle has done it by the age of 19. INSANE! What I will guarantee is Kyle will end up in the wrestling Hall of Fame (located in Stillwater Oklahoma) when his career is over. Most colleges would kill to have a guy like Kyle or Logan on their team. Here we had them both at the same time this past year.

One final thing. This is also going to be huge for recruiting. Ohio State also hosts the Ohio Regional Training Center (a satellite Olympic training center of sorts) and this alone serves as a huge recruiting tool to talented young prospects who are also looking to pursue Olympic Gold. When you tell a light weight they will be training with Logan Stieber or a heavier weight they can train with World Champ Kyle Snyder you know that will pique their interest. As Urban said, "The future's bright at Ohio State."

[TH1Bucks]

Thanks for sharing Mike !!!!