Ohio State’s Kyle Snyder runs out of the tunnel prior to his match in the the dual-meet against Iowa on Jan. 21 in the Schottenstein Center. Credit: Jack Westerheide | Photo Editor

Kyle Snyder fell just shy of claiming the Best Male Athlete in The Lantern’s 2017 Best of OSU poll.

Just like he always does, Snyder bounced back with a win, claiming the 2018 crown for Best Male Athlete ahead of former quarterback J.T. Barrett, who received the honor last year.

Passing up an opportunity to receive what head coach Tom Ryan said was $250,000 to $300,000 worth of endorsements, Snyder returned to Ohio State.

In Snyder’s final season at Ohio State, the Olympic gold medalist won his third individual national championship, defeating Michigan senior Adam Coon in the finals in Cleveland.

The 225-pound Snyder suffered his first collegiate loss since his sophomore season to Coon earlier in the year, but beat the 6-foot-5, 285-pound wrestler in both the Big Ten championship and the NCAA championship. Ohio State finished second behind Penn State in the race for a team title.

Snyder took home his fourth All-American honors in 2018. He joined Bo Jordan and Nathan Tomasello to become the first trio of teammates all to be named four-time All-Americans in the same season.

He found plenty of success on the international stage as well. In August, Snyder squared off against Russia’s Abdulrashid Sadulaev, a two-time world champion, in the World Finals and took down the renowned heavyweight 6-5 to deliver a world team title to Team USA, its first in 22 years.

Leaving Ohio State, Snyder is the only American to record three national championships, an Olympic gold medal and a pair of world titles. He now will pursue wrestling on the international stage full time.

Runner-up: J.T. Barrett, football