Kyle Snyder (R) celebrates his victory at the Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix on Jan. 29, 2017 in Kransoyarsk, Russia.
Reigning Olympic champion Kyle Snyder claimed gold in the 97 kg. division Sunday at the prestigious Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.
Ranked No. 1 in the world, Snyder opened his tournament with an 11-0 win against China’s Chaganxhana, then tallied an 11-1 quarterfinal division over Mongolia’s Munkhzhargal Belgutei. Another 11-1 technical fall against Hossein Ghorbanali of Iran in the semifinals set up a meeting between the 2015 world champion and Russia’s Rasul Magomedov for gold. Snyder downed the Russian by fall, 10-4, for the title.
Snyder is the 11th U.S. men’s freestyle wrestler to win the Yarygin grand prix, joining a list that includes such legends as Jim Scherr, Dave Schultz and Kurt Angle. The last U.S. man to win the event was Steve Mocco in 2009. Snyder ended the country’s longest gold-medal drought at the event.
Earlier in the event, Tamyra Mensah won gold at 69 kg., becoming just the sixth U.S. woman to win in the tournament’s history. Sarah Hildebrandt earned silver at 55 kg. and Alli Ragan took bronze at 60 kg.