20-Year-Old Wrestler Shatters American Dream of Gold at Wrestling World Championship Upsetting Country’s Youngest Olympic Wrestling Champion Kyle Snyder

The golden dream slips away. American fans were glued to their TV screens and watched their wrestling champ, Kyle Snyder at the 2023 World Wrestling Championship. The heavyweight wrestler was all set to win another world title but was blindsided by a new opponent. The heavyweight wrestler usually has a counter for every variable thrown at him in a match, but tables seemed to have turned in a recent match. Safe to say, Snyder could not hold his fort in front of the young wrestler.

A 20-year-old wrestler usurped against Snyder and shattered the American dream of another gold medal in 2023. He denied Snyder an entry into the finals at Belgrade and beat him without yielding a single point. Interestingly, this was the young wrestler’s first appearance at the World Wrestling Championship.

Kyle Snyder loses at his 2022 championship venue

Kyle Snyder is a freestyle wrestler who dominates the competition in the 213 lbs (97kg) weight division. Snyder is hailed by the Americans for being the youngest US wrestler to win a world and Olympic gold. The heavyweight wrestler has bagged several gold medals across various tournaments since 2015. However, the American wrestling phenomenon’s shot at the final was struck down by Bahrain’s Akhmed Tazhudinov. The 20-year-old beat Snyder with a perfect score of 11-0 and eliminated him in the quarter-finals.

Tazhudinov prevailed as the champion in his first-ever senior World Championship. Despite his lack of experience against the mighty Snyder, he fought perfectly and showed both power and technique. In fact, the Bahraini wrestler also dispatched Snyder’s longtime Russian rival Abdulrashid Sadulayev without much trouble. While Tazhudinov snatched Snyder’s shot at the gold, he also granted him a repechage chance by beating Sadulayev.

The Russian wrestler succumbed to a quick defeat due to an injury, as Tazhudinov claimed a 9-2 victory. The world tournament isn’t proving to be very fruitful for the Americans. Although, it is worth noting that Snyder entered the 2023 World Wrestling Championship as last year’s defending champion. In fact, Snyder had earned his 2022 world triumph at Belgrade as well. While fans were already upset over Snyder’s defeat, they suffered another blow as Kyle Dake lost in the finals as well.

Another American wrestling champion bites the dust

Kyle Dake, like Snyder, was also the 2022 defending champion at the Belgrade wrestling venue. However, a Russian opponent stopped America’s 74kg wrestling juggernaut in his tracks and forced him to take a silver medal back home. Dake had comfortably cruised throughout the world championship but got choked by his Russian opponent Zaurbek Sidakov in the finals. This marked the second time that Dake failed to overcome his Tokyo Olympics nemesis, Sidakov.

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The Russian athlete competed under a neutral flag and claimed a 10-7 victory over Dake. The defeat was a big blow to the American star as it broke his four-time winning streak. Sidakov reclaimed his throne which he was forced to forfeit due to geopolitical issues last year. While Dake bested all his opponents despite dropping down to 74kg from 79kg, he still hasn’t cracked the code to beat Sidakov. The unrelenting dominance of Sidakov had forced Dake to settle for the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. However, Dake upgraded his status and won the silver medal instead. Will Dake come out on top the next time and steal the gold medal from Sidakov? 

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