Kyle Snyder Tops the World!
/A lot is made of the age of Kyle Snyder being the youngest ever US World Champion, but it's important to remember a couple things other than the number. It's a weight class that is usually dominated by veterans of the sport as managing the strength of the upper weight opponents is truly a craft. The other thing to remember is Snyder is still getting better. I hate bringing up the losses in the Big Ten & NCAA finals, but the improvement Snyder has showed in his attacks is unbelievable. I personally watched Snyder have to come from behind halfway through his matches with Max Huntley (Michigan) & Phil Wellington (Ohio) at the MSU Open back in November. Snyder was not the same wrestler in Vegas and will keep growing and that is an exciting thought for USA Wrestling.
Snyder out-wrestled his opponents on every level defeating much more seasoned opponents with impressive resumes all the way to the finals. He then had to take out defending champion Gadisov from Russia. It's stuff that you go to bed dreaming about facing the defending World Champion from Russia in front of a sell out crowd chanting "USA". Snyder said he wouldn't feel the pain of 2nd again and he didn't get lost in the moment. He wrestled like he had been on the stage a thousand times before and defeated the previously known #1 wrestler in the world. It was incredible to watch and I encourage you to watch the press conference that USA Wrestling posted afterwards as well.
Leigh Jaynes-Provisor brought home a bronze medal to wrap up a 3rd place team performance for the US Women. She really wrestled well and battled all tournament and was very fun to watch. It is her first world medal on her 3rd world team and will look towards making the Olympic team this spring. The 34-year old Army veteran is a soldier, mom, and wife and truly amazing and inspirational to balance everything and grab a world medal.
Jake Herbert lost his first match of the day with a surprising shortage of offense. He was not pulled in to repechage. An emotional Herbert at the press conference was clearly disappointed in a bad match at the worst time possible.
Reece Humphrey was able to get a repechage match, but did not win. He started the day with a wild 11-11 victory, but after that he was unable to get any offense going in his next two matches.
Japan won the team title going away in Women's freestyle. China came in a surprising second place after not being in the top ten last year. The United States finishes 3rd for the second year in a row with two gold medals and one bronze.
Medal winners
Women’s freestyle
60 kg/132 lbs.
Gold – Oksana Herhel (Ukraine)
Silver – Tserenchim Sukhee (Mongolia)
Bronze – Dzhanan Manolova (Bulgaria)
Bronze – Leigh Jaynes-Provisor (USA)
Men’s freestyle
61 kg/134 lbs.
Gold – Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan)
Silver – Nomin Batbold (Mongolia)
Bronze – Vladimir Dubov (Bulgaria)
Bronze – Vasyl Shuptar (Ukraine)
86 kg/189 lbs.
Gold – Abdulrashid Sadulaev (Russia)
Silver – Selim Yasar (Turkey)
Bronze – Sandro Aminashvili (Georgia)
Bronze – Alireza Karimimachiani (Iran)
97 kg/213 lbs.
Gold – Kyle Snyder (USA)
Silver – Abdusalam Gadisov (Russia)
Bronze – Khetag Gazumov (Azerbaijan)
Bronze – Pavlo Oliinyk (Ukraine)
Finals matchups
Women’s freestyle
60 kg/132 lbs.
Oksana Herhel (Ukraine) dec. Tserenchim Sukhee (Mongolia), 10-7
Men’s freestyle
61 kg/134 lbs.
Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan) won by tech. fall over Nomin Batbold (Mongolia), 10-0
86 kg/189 lbs.
Abdulrashid Sadulaev (Russia) dec. Selim Yasar (Turkey), 6-0
97 kg/213 lbs.
Kyle Snyder (USA) dec. Abdusalam Gadisov (Russia), 5-5 criteria
U.S. performances
Women’s freestyle
60 kg/132 lbs. – Leigh Jaynes-Provisor, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army) – BRONZE MEDAL
WIN Madina Bakbergenova (Kazakhstan), tech. fall 10-0
WIN Emese Barka (Hungary), 8-5
LOSS Oksana Herhel (Ukraine), fall 0:18
WIN Irina Petr Netreba (Azerbaijan), 4-4 criteria
Men’s freestyle
61 kg/134 lbs. – Reece Humphrey, Columbus, Ohio (New York AC)
WIN Daulet Niyazbekov (Kazakhstan), 11-11 criteria
LOSS Nomin Batbold (Mongolia), 0-6
LOSS Bajrang (India), fall 5:09
86 kg/189 lbs. – Jake Herbert, Ann Arbor, Mich. (New York AC)
LOSS Sandro Aminashvili (Georgia), 1-6
97 kg/213 lbs. – Kyle Snyder, Woodbine, Md. (Titan Mercury WC) – GOLD MEDAL
WIN Pavlo Oliinyk (Ukraine), 2-1
WIN Radoslaw Baran (Poland), 8-0
WIN Jose Diaz (Venezuela), tech. fall 11-1
WIN Abbas Tahan (Iran), 6-3
WIN Abdusalam Gadisov (Russia), 5-5 criteria
