For over a decade, Kyle Snyder has been Team USA's 97kg representative at every World Championship and Olympic Games. From his world title as a teenager in 2015, through the Rio, Tokyo, and Paris Olympics, to last year, when he once again climbed to the top of the World Championship podium, Snyder has been a constant for Team USA.

Stephen Buchanan is next in line to try to dethrone Snyder. Buchanan has committed himself to the freestyle circuit after winning a 2025 NCAA title for Iowa at 197 pounds.

Snyder and Buchanan will face off at Final X on June 19th in Newark, NJ at the Prudential Center.

Key Stats

Kyle Snyder

• Ranked #3 in the world at 97kg
• Two-time Olympic Medalist
  • 2016 Rio - GOLD
  • 2021 Tokyo - SILVER
• Four-time World GOLD medalist - 2015, 2017, 2022, 2025
• Ten-time Pan-Am GOLD medalist
• Three-time NCAA Champ at 285lbs for Ohio State - 2016, 2017, 2018

Stephen Buchanan

• Ranked #15 in the world at 97kg
• 2026 Zagreb Ranking Series Champ
• 2026 Pan-Am SILVER medalist
• 2025 NCAA Champ at 197lbs for Iowa
• Four-time NCAA All-American

Kyle Snyder's Team Trials Hit List

Snyder's incredible run of 11 straight World and Olympic teams includes an impressive hit list of finals opponents. During that stretch, he has dropped just one match in 10 best-of-three series.

2015: Jake Varner 4-1, 3-0

2016: Jake Varner 4-4, 4-0, 6-1

2017: Kyven Gadson 10-0, 13-2

2018: Kyven Gadson 9-0, 10-2

2019: Kyven Gadson 10-0, 4-0

2021: Kollin Moore 10-0, 5-1

2022: Kollin Moore 12-2, 11-0

2023: J'den Cox medical forfeit

2024: Isaac Trumble 5-0, 4-0

2025: Hayden Zillmer 8-0, 8-2

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics were pushed back a year due to COVID, so the Olympic Team Trials took place in 2021. Snyder medaled in Tokyo, which earned him the right to make the 2021 World Team without going through the trials process. 

Buchanan's Post Collegiate Career

It's been barely a year since Buchanan won a national title in an Iowa singlet, but he has packed a lot of competition into that time as an official member of the Hawkeye Wrestling Club.

Originally from Wisconsin, Buchanan made two stops before landing in Iowa City. He spent his first three seasons at Wyoming, where he qualified for three NCAA tournaments, including the canceled 2020 NCAAs during his true freshman campaign. Buchanan placed eighth and third the next two seasons. A transfer to Oklahoma and a redshirt season followed, then a varsity season in a Sooner singlet and another third-place finish at NCAAs. Buchanan then transferred to Iowa for his final season of eligibility, where he won a title for the Hawkeyes.

Buchanan wrestled at the 2023 US Open, but his senior-level international career really kicked off in January 2026. First, on January 10, Buchanan beat Cuban legend Yoel Romero at Real American Freestyle 05. Less than a week later, Buchanan followed that up with a 97kg title at the 2026 Henri Deglane in France.

Another title at the 2026 Zagreb Open Ranking Series Tournament in Croatia in February, including a win over Iran's great Hassan Yazdani, gave Buchanan back-to-back international championships.

Buchanan dropped his next match, another RAF bout, this time to Olympic silver medalist Givi Matcharashvili of Georgia. He then bounced back with four straight wins at the US Open to earn a domestic championship and punch his ticket to Final X. Buchanan's most recent competition was the Pan-Am Championships in May, where he finished as runner-up to Cuba's Arturo Silot.

Putting Snyder's Career In Perspective

By the age of 30, Kyle Snyder has amassed a list of accolades rivaled by few in American wrestling history. Snyder's five gold medals and 10 total World or Olympic medals can be equaled or surpassed by arguably just three American freestyle wrestlers: Jordan Burroughs with seven golds and 10 total medals, John Smith with six golds and six total medals, and Bruce Baumgartner with five golds and 13 total medals. Kyle Dake is still in the mix with four golds and seven total medals, and he is also in Final X, but he is 35 years old.

The big difference between Snyder and those other names is that Snyder is still very active on the senior freestyle circuit, while Smith and Baumgartner have long since retired, and Burroughs has been inactive since the 2024 World Championships and is 37 years old.

Snyder began wrestling at the senior level in 2013 as an 18-year-old. Fresh off a U20 world championship in his first year of U20 eligibility, Snyder competed at the Henri Deglane and earned a bronze medal. He then won another U20 world medal in 2014 before focusing full-time on the senior level.

That commitment paid off, as Snyder won two World Championships and an Olympic gold medal, all before graduating from Ohio State.

Snyder has been a fixture of Team USA, earning the appellation of "Captain America" along the way. During his current streak of 11 straight World and Olympic teams, Snyder has failed to medal only once, at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he finished fifth. KySny bounced back the next year, picking up his fourth world title in Croatia.

Snyder shows no signs of slowing down as he attempts to make his 12th consecutive team. Just how far up the American freestyle Mount Olympus Captain America ascends remains to be seen.

Prediction

Stephen Buchanan will no doubt present Snyder with a challenging style, one Snyder is less familiar with than those of many other foes he has faced. Buchanan has successfully adapted his folkstyle skill set to freestyle, improving his repertoire with every competition. He also has a world-class gas tank, a hallmark of many post-collegiate American freestylers.

Snyder, however, is both the unstoppable force and immovable object for Team USA at 97kg. His stamina is indefatigable. He may not have the flashiest moves, but his hand fight is hellacious, and he will continue to chip away at opponents with singles and hi-c's until they wilt.

I can see Buchanan keeping things relatively close, but I feel confident that Snyder will win the series in two straight matches. We'll say 6-2 in round one and 4-0 in round two, and we'll all get to find out together how close our predictions are on June 19.