Normally, we would think of something really awesome to say to preface our top story lines of the day. But we just witnessed our youngest senior level World Champion in U. S. history. So what could possibly be said that would even remotely come close to watching Kyle Snyder defeat a field of incredible competition? That's right, nothing. Not a damn thing. 

So here are our top storylines from day five of the World Championships.


5. Surprising Upsets Early
Aleksander Bogomoev has been considered one of, if not the best, 61kg wrestler in the world over the past two years. This marks the second time he has had a disappointing performance at the World Championships. Last year Yowlys Bonne Rodriguez upset Bogomoev. This year it was Ukraine’s Vasyl Shuptar. Bogomoev held a criteria lead late in the match, but Shuptar force Bogomoev to the edge with an upper body tie before getting the step out point, which Bogomoev felt was so close it deserved a second look. However, he ended up losing the challenge and the match, 4-2.

Reineris Salas Perez of Cuba fell in last year’s final to Abdulrashid Sadulaev. So naturally, many expected it to be a repeat final this year as they came into the championship ranked #1 and #2. The potential bout dissolved quickly as Pedro Ceballos Fuentes defeated Salas Perz in the opening round 4-4 on a criteria decision. 


4. Herhel Plays Spoiler
Oksana Herhel is only 21 years old. She has a Junior World bronze medal on her resume coming into the 2015 championships, as well as many European medals. Now, her resume looks much better as she adds a World title to it. Herhel used a nasty headlock to pin Leigh Jaynes-Provisor in the semi-final and in her first finals appearance ever, she took on the reigning World Champion. Herhel wasn’t intimidated as she won an extremely entertaining match over Terenchim Sukhee of Mongolia, 10-7. Next year Herhel will need to switch weight classes in order to try to make the Olympic team since 60kg is a non-Olympic weight class for the women. But what a performance for Herhel. Upsetting the returning World Champ will surely put a bullseye on her back from here on out.



3. Back-to-Back
Haji Aliev tested the waters at 65kg this year. He had some mixed results and was ranked 10th by United World Wrestling at the weight class. He wrestled at the major championships at 61kg where he is the reigning World Champion except he wasn’t able to capture the European Games title. Aleksander Bogomoev defeated Aliev at Euro’s, however, Aliev didn’t suffer the same fate in Las Vegas as he controlled the competition, and downright dominated his finals opponent. In the championship bout he ran up 10 points for the technical fall very quickly against Nomin Batbold of Mongolia. After this win the big question for next year isn’t if Aliev can defend his title again, it's what weight will he try to make the Azeri team since 61 is a non-Olympic weight. Could be interesting to see where he ends up.



2. Sadulaev
Abdulrashid Sadulaev is thought by many to be the best wrestler on the planet. Nothing that happened Friday will lead anyone to believe anything different, if they had that opinion coming into the championships. Sadulaev rolled through the bracket to win the gold. He scored three technical falls, a fall, a 6-2 decision, and a 6-0 shutout in the final. This is Sadulaev’s second straight title and although it's earlym it could put him in the conversation of best ever. But for right now he is just a 19-year old two-time World Champion with plenty of time left.

1. Kyle Snyder: The Youngest American World Champion Ever
Expectations for young Kyle Snyder were optimistically high coming into his first Senior World Championship tournament and he DID NOT disappoint. Snyder opened with 2013 World bronze medalist Pavlo Oliinyk. He dictated the bout from start to finish despite the 2-1 score, which is not indicative of how well he controlled the ties and positions throughout the match.

Snyder cruised through the round of 16 and the quarter final before squaring off with Tahan of Iran. The nearly crowned World Champ held a solid 4-1 lead before Tahan converted a single leg to close the gap and make the score, 4-3. A shot clock violation and step out point closed out the match for Snyder as he had Tahan exhausted by the end of the match sending Snyder to the final with a 6-3 decision.



Next, Snyder took on reigning World Champion Abdulsalam Gadisov for the title. A slow start to the match saw the score knotted at one after the first period. A takedown by Snyder was answered by Gadisov which gave the Russian the lead on criteria, 3-3. After a step out point, Snyder scored the winning takedown at 5:35. An inconsequential step out point tied the bout at 5-5 along with giving just about everyone in the arena a heart attack. But Snyder, who is clearly wise beyond his years, was still in control as he lead on criteria with just three seconds left. He kept Gadisov at bay and sent the home crown into a frenzy as time expired.

Needless to say, this is a historical win for the United States. Snyder is now the youngest medalist in United States history overtaking Lee Kemp and John Smith, who originally held the record.