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There’s still time to vote for Snyder and Retherford for ESPYS!

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by Taylor Miller, USA Wrestling

Wresting fans, there’s still time to vote for Best Male U.S. Olympic Athlete nominee Kyle Snyder and Best Male College Athlete nominee Zain Retherford for The 25th ESPYS. Fans can vote NOW online with the polls closing at the start of the ESPYS live show on July 12 at 8 p.m. ET.

Vote for Kyle Snyder for Best Male U.S. Olympic Athlete
Vote for Zain Retherford for Best Male College Athlete

Snyder earns the nomination after an impressive gold-medal performance at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he became the youngest American wrestling Olympic champion at just 20 years old.

To do so, he defeated 2008 and 2012 Olympic bronze medalist and World No. 3 Khetag Goziumov of Azerbaijan, 2-1, in the 97 kg/213 lbs. Olympic finals. En route to the finals, he defeated World No. 19 Javier Cortina of Cuba, 10-3, World No. 15 Albert Saritov of Romania, 7-0, and World No. 6 Elizbar Odikadze of Georgia in a 9-4 comeback thriller.

His 2016 Olympic gold came just one year after his first World championship in 2015 as a 19-year-old. An wrestler for Ohio State, Snyder won his second NCAA title earlier this year.

Along with Snyder, the nominees are decathlete Ashton Eaton and swimmers Ryan Murphy and Michael Phelps.

Retherford racked up an impressive collegiate season that saw him win his second-straight NCAA championship, second Big Ten title and collect a perfect 28-0 record. Of his 28 wins, all but three ended in bonus points. The Nittany Lion tallied 17 pins, seven technical falls and one major decision during his junior campaign.

He earned many accolades on the year, including the Hodge Trophy, which is considered the Heisman Trophy of wrestling. Among his many other honors, Retherford was named the 2017 NCAA Championships Outstanding Wrestler as well as the NCAA Most Dominant Wrestler, a season-long award.

Most recently, Retherford won a spot on the 2017 U.S. Freestyle World Team at 65 kg/143 lbs.

Retherford is one of five finalists, including Ian Harkes (Wake Forest, men’s soccer); Frank Mason (Kansas, men’s basketball); Matt Rambo (Maryland, men’s lacrosse); and DeShaun Watson (Clemson, football).

An ESPY Award recognizes individual and team athletic achievement and other sports-related performance during the calendar year. Winners are determined by votes from fans, sports writers, broadcasters, sports executives, and sportspersons.

The 25th ESPYS will be hosted by five-time NFL MVP and two-time Super Bowl champion Peyton Manning. The 25th ESPYS will be broadcast live on ABC Wednesday, July 12, at 8 p.m. ET from the Microsoft Theater in Downtown Los Angeles.

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