Ohio State senior heavyweight Kyle Snyder squares off with his opponent on Friday, March 16, 2018 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland at the NCAA wrestling championships. Snyder advanced to the finals over Duke’s Jacob Casper on a 7-2 decision. Credit: Jeff Helfrich | Senior Lantern Reporter
CLEVELAND — Kyle Snyder is a three-time NCAA champion.
With a win against Michigan’s Adam Coon, the senior became the second Buckeye ever to win three national championships, joining four-time champion Logan Stieber. Snyder also has won two Yarygin titles and an Olympic gold medal.
The first period came and went without any aggressive shots or chances for either wrestler. Snyder escaped quickly in the second to take a 1-0 lead. Midway through the second, Snyder almost got Coon’s leg, but he fought it off.
Snyder let Coon go at the beginning of the third period to tie the match at one. Action started to pick up near the end of the third, when Snyder and Coon both became more aggressive. Snyder got a takedown on Coon with 19 seconds remaining, and though Coon managed one last escape before the end of the match, Snyder held on for the 3-2 win to end his collegiate career with a national championship.
Despite Snyder’s 3-2 win, Ohio State finished second — behind Penn State — for a team NCAA championship.
Snyder matched up with Coon, the No. 2 seed, for the third time this season. Coon shocked the world when he gave Snyder his first collegiate loss since the 2015 NCAA finals when the Wolverine topped the Buckeye on Feb. 11. Snyder got revenge with a takedown in the second sudden victory in the Big Ten finals when Coon was the top seed.
Everyone expected the final chapter between the two to occur in the national finals from the moment Snyder lost, with them clearly being the two top heavyweight wrestlers in the country. The win during the dual meet validated Coon’s season, where he posted an undefeated record until the Big Ten championship.
