USA’s Kyle Snyder wins wrestling gold at Rio Olympics – USA TODAY

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USA TODAY Sports’ Nancy Armour shares her Top 5 from Rio.
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RIO DE JANEIRO — American wrestler Kyle Snyder is a gold medal winner who just took down a two-time bronze winner in a high pressure match, so it’s understandable that some might forget that he’s still a college kid.

Snyder, 20, a native of Maryland who is a rising junior at Ohio State, won gold on Sunday in the 97 kg freestyle wrestling division by beating Khetag Gazyumov of Azerbaijan. The 33-year-old Gazyumov was a bronze medalist at the 2008 and 2012 Games.

Snyder says the gold medal has been a goal he set more than a year ago, when he started a countdown on his phone to the day of the final match. When, exactly, did he start the countdown?

“I don’t remember. And I’ve broken my phone so many times,” he said, laughing. “Each time, I had to start a new countdown.”

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It’s moments like these that you realize for how dominant Snyder has been, how polished he was in a final match against a man 13 years his senior, how composed he was in those final, high-pressure seconds as Gazyumov went all out for the pin, he’s still just another Ohio State student.

“(Saturday) after I made weight, my professor emailed,” he said, moments after standing atop the podium while the Star Spangled Banner played. “And I said, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s telling me about these books! I’m not even in Columbus right now!’ ”

Despite his youth, Snyder’s game plan was polished and effective. He started out on the offensive, challenging Gazyumov and setting the tone. After a warning to Gazyumov, the match evened out, with Snyder scoring the first point on a push out. At the halfway point, the match stood 1-0 to Snyder.

After the match resumed, Snyder again came out attacking, with Gazyumov doing his best to defend. After too long a time of inactivity, however, Gazyumov was put on a shot clock, and Snyder scored his second point. From there, Gazyumov went all-out, but it was too late. He could only score one point, and Snyder hung on to win 2-1.

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Snyder’s gold medal is the 50th gold medal won by an American in freestyle wrestling at the Olympics. He is the youngest American gold medal winner in the sport.

“Nobody deserves it more than Kyle,” said fellow American wrestler Frank Molinaro, after he just missed out on a bronze medal in the 65 kg division earlier in the day. “The kid is young, and he’s wrestling men out there. And he’s the man. He’s throwing these guys down, he’s breaking these guys, and he’s still in college. It’s fun to watch, and fun to be a part of.”

Snyder’s win is part of a strong youth showing by United States’ wrestling program this Olympics. J’Den Cox, a rising senior at Missouri, won bronze Saturday in the men’s freestyle 86 kg division.

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