Kyle Snyder | Episode 10

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and readability.

Shane Sparks

And welcome to *Stories from the Resilite*. It is Episode 10. Big thanks to all of you that have watched this podcast. It's been a blast that keeps getting better and better. Already, Episode 10.

He is a 10-time Olympic and World medalist, four-time World champion, 2016 Olympic gold medalist, three-time NCAA champion, three-time Big Ten champion and the current Real American Freestyle Light Heavyweight Champion of the World. Other than that, he hasn't done a ton in the sport.

Captain America, Kyle Snyder. Kyle, it is always great to see you. How are you?

Kyle Snyder

Doing good. Thank you, Shane. I appreciate it.

Shane Sparks

Real American Freestyle, that is the rage across the world when it comes to wrestling. You defended your belt recently against Abdulrashid Sadulaev, your fierce rival. You hadn't wrestled him in nearly five years. It had been 1,740 days.

He scores early. You come back and get a go-ahead takedown. Ultimately, you get the slap of the Resilite to get the fall. Describe that night, that atmosphere in Georgia.

Kyle Snyder

Yeah, well, I hadn't wrestled him in competition, but I wrestled him in my mind I don't even know how many times. You know what I mean? I had been wrestling him over and over and over again for that five years, and so when it came time for the competition, I felt really ready.

But I think before getting into the match and the environment, it's worth talking about how great he is because I've said this multiple times in the press conference and interviews, but I think, without a doubt, he's the greatest wrestler of my generation.

It's just crazy to think about. He started competing at the senior level in 2014 and won the World Championships then. And since then, he's lost three matches. He lost to me in 2017. He lost to Tazhudinov in 2023.

Shane Sparks

I know he has over 150 wins and just a few losses.

Kyle Snyder

Yeah. Tazhudinov in '23, but his neck was hurt then, and then he lost to me at RAF. The majority of his matches aren't even close. He just kills everybody.

It's honestly crazy, the career he's had, and that's why I love wrestling him. It's incredible getting to compete against somebody like that and being alive when there's a wrestler like that in your weight class. It just doesn't happen very often.

To think that I might have more opportunities to compete against him. I think also, it was hard for me to even say it was a rivalry because he had kind of beaten me handily the last couple matches. The first match I won, but after that, he pinned me. Then he beat me. He was up 6-0 at the Olympics, and I came back and it was 6-3. Then he beat me very soundly in Oslo in 2021.

I think for most people, they were like, "This isn't even... I don't think Kyle can beat him anymore."

But I have faith and believe that God can do anything, so I always expect the best outcome and result.

It was just a great environment. It was a sold-out crowd, and the people of Georgia are huge into wrestling. It was kind of a unique environment, too, because I felt like I was the crowd favorite. Being in a place where you're only two hours away from Dagestan, I would have thought that the crowd would have been more behind Sadulaev, but that's not what it felt like for me.

Crazy, crazy match. I hope we can wrestle again, and hopefully he's not hurt too bad and he can be back on the mat soon.

Shane Sparks

I want to go back to the mental preparation. As you said, the reps wrestling him so often in your mind. What are things, Kyle, specifically that you think about when you look at that matchup between your ears?

Kyle Snyder

There are technical things, and I'm going to keep those to myself just because I feel like there's been a couple things that have been revealed to me that other people might not see in the wrestling, and I think they really helped me in the match.

I'll keep that stuff to myself, but I think the biggest thing is wrestling without fear. I always tell myself I want to wrestle by faith. When I say wrestle by faith, it means wrestle without fear.

When you wrestle somebody like Sadulaev, he's a very scary wrestler to compete against because he's really dangerous defensively. He's really dangerous on top. He has a great will. He's mentally tough. He's very physically strong, and he can shoot. The guy is just crazy to wrestle.

I had to really get myself geared up to compete without fear and just attack and be ready to be offensive and aggressive and make the match a battle of pace, a battle of conditioning, a battle of heart. That's where I can win matches like this because I think technically Sadulaev is the most skilled wrestler in the world. I think that's without debate.

I don't want to wrestle him in a battle of skill. I want to make it a battle of will and heart.

It takes a lot of getting yourself to the point where you're actually ready to do that and not hold on to the results. Because if I am aggressive, there's always, "Okay, well then he could flip me through and score easy points," which he did in that match and in previous matches.

You kind of just have to lay that down and do it anyway.

Shane Sparks

A lot of guys talk about wrestling with freedom, wrestling without fear. It's very difficult to do. When were you able to truly adopt that philosophy and, more importantly, really execute it?

Kyle Snyder

I think it's honestly a daily thing when it comes to competition. I don't think that because you do it one time in a match, it's just going to be there forever. I think you have to continually work on it while you're training and then in all competitions.

I had a real problem with anxiety when it came to competition, especially when I was wrestling people that were good. Even though I had success in my high school career and all that, I used to wrestle a lot of overtime matches in the finals of tournaments and things like that because I'd wrestle so tight and be so afraid of losing.

That didn't change until after my freshman year of college when I got pinned in the NCAA finals. Then I realized that who I am isn't a wrestler, but I'm a child of God. That's what's important about me.

Whether or not I win or lose wrestling matches, it doesn't change the way that God looks at me and the way that He loves me. I didn't have that understanding in my heart and in my mind. To me, my worth was dependent upon winning wrestling matches.

That was really critical for me, just to have that understanding. But like I said, if you don't continue to feed that understanding and continually remind yourself, then you'll just go back to your old ways.

It's a lifestyle, and it's a daily attitude where you're remembering all of that. I think I'm always wrestling. Everything I'm doing in life, I feel like can somehow be related to wrestling. I'm always getting prepared for those types of matches in all the small decisions I make each day.

Shane Sparks

What are the hardest decisions every day? You're human. As much success as you've had, to stay on top of the game in the world, there's very little margin for error.

What is the biggest threat to your excellence, Kyle? Is it waking up in the morning sometimes when you're tired? Is it diet? What are the challenges to Kyle Snyder?

Kyle Snyder

One interesting thing for me is training and getting ready for competition and going and competing. All of that is very easy for me. I don't struggle with any of it.

A lot of times I'll do clinics and kids will ask me, "What do you do when you don't want to go to practice?" And I'm like, "I haven't had that since I was in seventh grade."

I did have it when I was younger, for sure. But since eighth grade, I can't remember a day where I didn't want to go to practice and didn't want to train hard and didn't want to get better.

Even today, I love wrestling. I love it, and I love going to practice. I can't get enough of it.

I wouldn't say I struggle with any of that, but I think one thing is continuing to remain humble. If you're not careful, I think it's easy to think you're being humble, but actually there's pride in parts of your life.

Just being really, really open to listening to my coaches on what I need to work on, really open to what I should be training and how I should be training and what competitions I should be in, and taking direction from other people. That's something that I have to be really careful about.

I think it's important to consider others more than I consider myself, and thankfully I have two babies, so that's nonstop service from the moment you wake up until you go to bed. But when I'm away from them, just continuing to keep the attitude of service.

I think it's an interesting thing in wrestling, too, because I don't know if you heard this, but I used to hear this growing up where my coaches would say, "All right, it's time to focus on you now. It's time to be selfish."

I would think about that and be like, "Man, that doesn't sound right to me." As I've gotten older, I disagree with it. I don't think you ever have to be selfish. I think you can always be focused on others, and that's actually the best way to win, when you don't take yourself so seriously and think you're more important than anybody else.

Those are the things. They're not really even on-the-mat things, but those are the ones that I have to really pay attention to because the on-the-mat stuff, I just love it. I can't get enough of it.

Shane Sparks

One thing that I really respect and I like is the respect that you and Sadulaev have. There's not a whole lot of trash talking. I don't think I've ever really heard any of it.

It's just building the other person up, recognizing the excellence across the mat, understanding the challenge and the work it's going to take to defeat that opponent.

What's the coolest thing about him? You're friends with him off the mat. Tell us about the interaction with him, your approach to the relationship and what's the coolest thing about him?

Kyle Snyder

I really appreciate Sadulaev, and he's helped me a lot without even knowing it. We're 10 time zones away from each other, but he's inspired me. I'll be running at 8 p.m., and he's in my mind. I'm really thankful for him.

When I got to go over to Dagestan and spend a week with him and his family and his friends, I would say it was the most hospitality I've ever been shown in my life.

The coolest thing about him to me is probably his wrestling and just what he's accomplished and the way he does it with ease. How many great wrestlers he's competed against and dominated, including myself. He's pinned me in a match. He's beaten David Taylor, Ghasempour, Sharifov. I can't name everybody, but anybody that there really was, he's taken care of on the mat without a problem.

The other thing that I really like about him is he's a two-time Olympic champion and a six-time World champion, and he's still competing. There's nothing that he needs to do to cement himself as one of the greatest of all time, but I think that speaks to his love for the sport.

I remember when I was with him in Dagestan and I told him that I wanted to wrestle until I was 45, and he said that I was crazy and that he doesn't like wrestling as much as me. He wants to be a businessman and stuff.

But you know what? He's still at it, and he's still competing. Maybe he had a change of heart or something.

I don't think... I think it'll be very difficult for anyone to have the type of career that he's had.

Shane Sparks

You won your first World title in 2015, the Olympic title in 2016. When you look back to that time in Vegas in 2015 when you won that first World title, what's something, Kyle, that from a difficulty standpoint you could never have imagined?

What you've done is incredibly difficult. What's something that, a decade ago, you had no concept of how difficult it was going to be?

Kyle Snyder

Back then, and this is when I talk about arrogance and pride, when I won in 2015, '16 and '17, I literally was like, "I'm never going to lose. It's just impossible. I'm not going to lose any matches, and I'm always going to win at the World Championships and the Olympics."

I think the difficulty of staying on top, it's such a fine line. The difference between first place and fifth place at the World Championships or the Olympics can be decided in the most minute details of a wrestling match. But the difference from first place to fifth place to the world is like, "Oh, this guy stinks now. He's no good. Who's the next guy? He shouldn't even be on the team anymore."

It's razor thin. That's difficult, keeping up with that technique and the mentality.

I started in 2015, so 12 years of competing at the senior level on World and Olympic teams and competing all over the place. Just staying healthy, I think, is really challenging.

One thing I'm thankful for, and I don't consider this to be from myself, I consider this to be from God, is most of the time people's love for the sport runs out before their body. They still can train and compete, but they just don't love it anymore. Then it is kind of like, "What am I doing this for? I don't really want to do it anymore."

But I still have the love and desire to wrestle and train hard and get better and all those things.

Finally, making a career out of wrestling is very difficult economically. It's hard financially to make a career out of wrestling.

Another guy who I think would have the most accolades and be the greatest wrestler of all time is Coach Cael Sanderson. But I think when he won the Olympics, they paid him $25,000, and he had a wife and a kid. He's like, "I can't keep doing this. I've got to go coach. I've got to get a job."

I think if there had been RTCs and ways for him to make money, he would have stayed competing. Honestly, right now he could still be a top-level guy in the world, so it would have been crazy to see what he could have done.

It's hard because you basically have to win every year for it to be possible for you to do it as a job. You have to make the team, and just making the team in America is hard. I just lost a match at Final X this year.

I wasn't thinking about any of that in 2015.

Shane Sparks

You may have just answered the question in your love of the sport, but I was going to ask you. God gives us all talents, gives us superpowers. What is the superpower, from a wrestling standpoint, that you have?

Kyle Snyder

First, I don't consider myself to be special. I think there are many people who are more deserving than me to have won the Olympics and World Championships.

I know a lot of people in the sport who have trained so hard and been so consistent and given everything, lived such a clean life, and it didn't go their way. But for me, I've been able to win a lot and stay on the team and still represent Team USA.

I don't really consider myself special in that way.

But I think probably the greatest gift I have been given is almost like a delusion of, "I will win."

Ever since I was a kid, and this is how I know it's a gift because I didn't have to work for it, I'd be like, "Oh, that kid, that guy beat me 10-0. Next time I'll beat him."

Or I'm outside playing basketball with my older brother and he's smoking me, and I'm like, "That's okay. Tomorrow I'll beat him."

I didn't really get discouraged much. I would always just be like, "Oh, it's just a matter of time. I'll beat him eventually."

I think that has been really helpful. When I was thinking like that, it also allowed me to continue to work harder because I was like, "Oh, it's right there. I can see it. If I keep working hard, then I'll be able to accomplish it."

That, and like you said, the love of the sport. I started wrestling when I was five, so it'll be 26 years of wrestling here soon. It's a long time, but like we've talked about, I still really love it.

And so do you. You still love wrestling, too. It's a great sport. I think it's the best sport in the world.

Shane Sparks

In the course of your wrestling career, Kyle, what are a couple of conversations that had the biggest impact on you, that maybe steered you a certain way or shifted a mindset? One or two that just really stand out amongst the rest.

Kyle Snyder

I'm always being impacted by people and things they say to me. I've had a lot of really great coaches.

I think a super impactful time of my life was when I moved to the Olympic Training Center when I was a senior in high school. Coach Zadick used to say this often to me. He was a developmental coach at that time, so he was my coach, and he would say, "You always have to be your best coach."

He really trained me and the other guys who were there on how to be a professional. This is how you set up your training schedule. This is what you do when you come to practice. This is how you get ready for practice. This is how much sleep you need. This is how you should be strength training. This is when you should compete. This is how you should be thinking about the technique you're hitting in practice and how you should drill and how you should go live.

That's always been a really critical thing that I've taken with me since I was at the Olympic Training Center.

By the time I got to college, where for many guys it's their first time on their own and they're still learning how to be a professional, I felt like I already was a professional. It allowed me to get a lot more out of the environment that I was in.

That was a big one for sure.

Then I had a strength coach for a long time, and his name was Neil Serafinas. He taught me a lot about training and competition.

One of the things he would say to me is, "You want to accomplish your goal doing the least amount of work possible."

That was something that I had never thought of before. For me, it was always training like a madman all the time, and there was not a lot of rest or recovery. That was something I never thought of.

He really brought rest and recovery into my training, and that's been huge. Now, having wrestled and getting into my 30s, if I hadn't thought about that when I was 20 years old, I don't know where I'd be now.

Because he had been preaching it to me for so long, it made a big difference in how I feel today and still being excited to come in and practice and all that.

Shane Sparks

What teammates have had the biggest impact on you, whether it was at Ohio State or now as a senior-level athlete?

Kyle Snyder

I've had a lot of great teammates. It's a good question.

I think Tervel Dlagnev is definitely one of the guys who's had a huge impact on me. I trained with him more than I trained with anybody else at Ohio State. He was so mentally tough and also so technically elite.

He showed me so much in training, and we just put in so many minutes together. I think when I was at Ohio State, I might have taken him down four or five times in the entirety of my career before he started having back issues and couldn't wrestle as much. That's just crazy to think about.

He had a huge impact on me.

I think now, having been at Penn State for seven years, Jake Varner, he's my coach, but he's also probably my number one training partner. He's so tough, too, and also just has great perspective on wrestling and mentality and technique. He's been a great partner for me.

I really like training with Myles Martin. He kept me fast.

One guy that I haven't been able to wrestle as much recently, but I would say he's one of my favorite partners, is Aaron Brooks. Lord willing, he can get back and start training again and get on the mat. He's still dealing with the stuff with USADA, but he's one of my best training partners and probably one of my top competitors as well.

I think that type of situation is probably why me and him are such good training partners for each other because it's like, yeah, this is the real deal.

I've wrestled a lot of great guys: David Taylor, Kyle Dake, Kollin Moore. I've had great teammates. Logan Stieber.

Even the dudes on the Penn State team right now, like Mesenbrink and Barr and Rocco and the Mirasola brothers, Levi Haines, Greg Kerkvliet, Carter Starocci. All those guys really pushed me and inspired me.

Shane Sparks

You've had so many big moments in wrestling. A little bit of rapid fire here.

Go back to 2016. You and Nick Gwiazdowski. It was a classic match. Madison Square Garden. You are down. You get the quick escape.

Kyle, we talk about this stuff in broadcasting. Quick escapes, rideouts. That match, you had some slickness, but a whole lot of grit.

What are you thinking? Nine seconds left. You've got to ride him out to force overtime. What's the mindset there? That was big time.

Kyle Snyder

If you go back and watch the match, Gwiz adjusted his headgear, and it probably took him five to 10 seconds after the takedown.

If he didn't do that, I don't know if I could have rode him without getting hit for a stall call because I'm terrible on top.

I was just thinking, jump to a side headlock and hold on, and hopefully he stands up to his feet so that I don't get called for stalling.

Shane Sparks

2015. You win your first World title. When you are, God willing, 90 years old, you might not even remember your name at that time, but if you think back to 2015, winning that first World title in Vegas as a 19-year-old, what will you remember?

Kyle Snyder

I remember Abdusalam Gadisov, who I wrestled in the finals, and he's one of my favorite wrestlers of all time. I just was kind of like, "Man, I can't believe I'm wrestling this guy."

I remember people thinking that there was no way I was going to beat him.

I remember the semifinals against the Iranian because I wrestled on September 11, so a very patriotic day. I think the guy got out to a lead, and I ended up coming back and winning. Just the crowd going crazy and the USA chants.

I'm pumped. The World Championships this year are going to be great, but 2027 back in Vegas, so that's going to be incredible.

Shane Sparks

2017, beating Sadulaev for the first time. You win the World title. It came down to that final match. It vaults the United States to the team title for the first time in a couple of decades.

What was most memorable about that run?

Kyle Snyder

My brother was my training partner, so I loved having him with me. We warmed up to "A Country Boy Can Survive." Had that on repeat.

I remember I was almost tearing up because I was so excited to compete. I was so jacked up to wrestle that I almost started crying before the match, which was kind of crazy. That doesn't happen to me often.

Then, like the moment we talked about previously, being in the tunnel with Sadulaev and yelling before I went out there.

It was actually funny being with him in 2021 in Dagestan. He said that really spooked him, and he was thrown off guard severely. He thinks that's why I won that match, which is crazy to hear.

Shane Sparks

2016 Olympic championship in Rio. Describe those moments.

Kyle Snyder

Wrestling Khetag Gazyumov in the finals, who I had just lost to two months before that. He's a great opponent and one of the greatest 97-kilo wrestlers in the history of wrestling.

It was a very tactical match, but I think what sticks out to me the most is the shot that I hit in the finals to get to his leg and push him out.

I felt like God had shown me that in prayer and the specific setup that I used. I feel like He revealed that to me, so that's what comes to my mind.

Shane Sparks

What match has meant the most? You got one?

Kyle Snyder

That's a good question.

I would say the next match means the most, honestly. The one that I have coming up, whatever it is.

It's hard for me to look back and say what it is right now because I'm still always looking forward to what's going to happen and who my next opponent is going to be and the next World Championships.

So I'll leave it at that.

Shane Sparks

Where's the gold medal from Rio?

Kyle Snyder

I've got a gym in my basement, a home gym, and I've got it put in a little rack down there.

Shane Sparks

You have the national titles, the World titles, the Olympic title. God forbid the house starts on fire, but you've got to run in and get one of those awards. Which one are you grabbing?

Kyle Snyder

I'll probably grab the Olympic medal. You don't want that thing burning up. I think UWW could probably remake the other stuff.

Shane Sparks

One of my favorite things about this sport, Kyle, is how humbling it is.

I remember Isaiah Martinez, I believe it was when he lost to Vincenzo Joseph the first time. The next morning he had a tweet that said something like, "Very few people get out of this sport unscathed."

As good as you've been, you're one of the all-time greats. You have still suffered great defeats in this sport by getting pinned, mind you. You get pinned by Kyven Gadson. You get pinned by Sadulaev at the Worlds in 2018.

Even Kyle Snyder gets pinned. How do you deal with defeats?

Kyle Snyder

I would say that's changed a lot because of my faith and trust in God.

Previously, it was really hard for me to deal with that type of stuff, but now because of faith, I've learned that God has a good plan and that if I trust Him, He's actually working everything out for my benefit and for everyone else's benefit that trusts in Him.

I just need to be patient and continue to seek Him and His will in my life. That's what helps me the most, knowing that.

It's not like I don't experience the pain or it's not tough still, but having that in my heart is really helpful.

Shane Sparks

I want to ask you this, Kyle. When there's noise, I know you're a man of faith. Is there a promise from God, a scripture that you really, in difficult times, lean on heavily?

Kyle Snyder

It changes a lot for me just based on what I'm reading or what comes into my mind or my heart.

I think more than any specific verse, it's just remembering who God is and what He's done for me and for us. It was at great expense that He chased after us, and now we can have a relationship with Him.

The God that I believe in is in control of everything, and He's also love. He isn't loving. He is love.

Knowing that He's going to do everything out of love for me, for everyone else, and He's also controlling everything so that we would come to know Him and trust in Him, that's what I keep in my mind.

Shane Sparks

Before I let you go, I want to talk about your family. You have your wife and two kids.

Kyle Snyder

Yeah.

Shane Sparks

How old are the kids?

Kyle Snyder

They'll be four and two in a couple months.

Shane Sparks

Oh, man. And you have a boy, girl? What do you have?

Kyle Snyder

The older one's a boy, and the younger one's a girl.

Shane Sparks

What have you appreciated most about being a father?

Kyle Snyder

They're just so sweet, and you learn a lot because they really push you, too.

To be a good father is difficult. You can't really sit back. You've really got to get in there, and it's a lot of work.

But I think the thing that I love the most is teaching them about God and just how they're so innocent in the way that they trust Him.

Just a quick story. Me and my son Judah were going to the park a couple months ago, and it started to rain outside. I was like, "Oh no, it's raining. What are we going to do?"

He's in the back of the car, and he says, "Dad, why don't we pray that it stops raining?"

I said, "Wow, that's a great idea."

So we prayed, and then we got to the park and it actually stopped raining for about 30 minutes. Then it rained again, but we got to play for like 30 minutes.

He thinks that God is someone you can pray to, and He hears you, and He's there for you in all these little moments of your life, even when you're just driving to the park.

That was a good reminder. I love that about them.

Shane Sparks

If he decides to wrestle...

Kyle Snyder

He's wrestling.

Shane Sparks

He is. From a parental standpoint, in the way you coach and/or guide him, what is something that you recognize right now is going to be really important to you in the way you navigate that?

Kyle Snyder

I feel like, for me, you can watch a kid move and practice and wrestle even at a pretty young age and you can say, "Oh, wow, this kid really gets it. They're pretty skilled just naturally."

Whether they have that or not, I feel like you want to make it about the things that they can control.

Some kids are more skilled than other kids, but everyone can have a good attitude. Everybody can work hard. Everybody can be honest. Everybody can hit every rep.

Those are the things.

People ask me, "Are you going to coach your kids?"

I'm like, "Yeah, I'm going to coach my kids. Of course I want to coach my kids. I want to work with them as much as I can."

But I don't want the pressure to be on anything except the things they can control. Not whether or not they win or lose every wrestling match they're in, but if they're challenging themselves in practice and listening to the other coaches and being polite and respectful and things like that.

Those are ultimately what's most important.

Shane Sparks

Well, Kyle, this has been a ton of fun. Really appreciate you sharing your journey. It's been a long one. It's been a great one.

I know there's a lot of chapters that are yet to be written, but it's always great to catch up with you. Really appreciate it. Thank you.

Kyle Snyder

Thank you, Shane. I appreciate it.