Kyle Snyder named Ohio State Male Athlete of the Year for the third straight year
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by Kyle Kuhlman, Ohio State
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Kyle Snyder (wrestling) and Kelsey Mitchell (women’s basketball) are the 2017-18 Ohio State Female and Male Athlete of the Year, respectively. Both will now be placed on the ballots for Big Ten Athlete of the Year awards, with the winners announced soon.
Snyder extends the wrestling program’s current streak to five straight Male Athlete of the Year accolades and is the first Buckeye in school history to become a three-time OSU Athlete of the Year. Logan Stieber won the award in 2014 and 2015.
Snyder is widely-considered one of the most accomplished collegiate wrestlers of all-time. He is the only American to ever finish college as a three-time NCAA Champion (including 2018), Olympic gold medalist and two-time world champion. He lifted the Buckeyes to Big Ten titles in three of his four seasons (including 2018) and reached the top of the heap as 2015 NCAA team champions.
During his senior campaign, Snyder posted a 17-1 mark that included nearly half (seven) of his wins coming over nationally-ranked opponents. He garnered four top-5 triumphs, capped by topping second-ranked Adam Coon of Michigan in the NCAA finals bout.
Snyder won the 2018 AAU Sullivan Award as well, presented to the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States. He became just the fourth wrestler to seize the prestigious honor, joining fellow Olympic gold medalists John Smith (1990), Bruce Baumgartner (1995) and Rulon Gardner (2000).
The Woodbine, Md., native concluded his collegiate career with an overall record of 75-5 and a lone loss in the last three seasons combined.
Mitchell is the 11th representative all-time from the women’s basketball program to earn this honor, the highest total among all Ohio State teams.
Mitchell finished her career as the program’s first four-time All-American and the NCAA’s second all-time leading scorer with 3,402 career points. She also made 497 career three-pointers which is 56 more than any other female in NCAA history. Mitchell owns 30 OSU, Big Ten or NCAA records and is just one of four players in NCAA history with more than 3,000 points and 500 assists. She was named the 2018 Dawn Staley Award recipient, given to the country’s most outstanding collegiate guard. Less than a week later, the Indiana Fever selected Mitchell No. 2 overall in the 2018 WNBA Draft.
The Cincinnati native was just the second Buckeye to earn first team All-Big Ten honors four times and she was a three-time Big Ten Player of the Year. Mitchell averaged 25.7 points, 4.7 assists and 4.0 three-pointers over the three wins in this year’s Big Ten Tournament to be named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
For her career, Mitchell was a part of 106 wins, two Big Ten Championships, a Big Ten Tournament title and made the NCAA Tournament all four years.
Wrestling winners of Ohio State Male Athlete of the Year
2009 J Jaggers Wrestling
2014 Logan Stieber Wrestling
2015 * Logan Stieber Wrestling
2016 Kyle Snyder Wrestling
2017 * Kyle Snyder Wrestling
2018 Kyle Snyder Wrestling
Snyder extends the wrestling program’s current streak to five straight Male Athlete of the Year accolades and is the first Buckeye in school history to become a three-time OSU Athlete of the Year. Logan Stieber won the award in 2014 and 2015.
Snyder is widely-considered one of the most accomplished collegiate wrestlers of all-time. He is the only American to ever finish college as a three-time NCAA Champion (including 2018), Olympic gold medalist and two-time world champion. He lifted the Buckeyes to Big Ten titles in three of his four seasons (including 2018) and reached the top of the heap as 2015 NCAA team champions.
During his senior campaign, Snyder posted a 17-1 mark that included nearly half (seven) of his wins coming over nationally-ranked opponents. He garnered four top-5 triumphs, capped by topping second-ranked Adam Coon of Michigan in the NCAA finals bout.
Snyder won the 2018 AAU Sullivan Award as well, presented to the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States. He became just the fourth wrestler to seize the prestigious honor, joining fellow Olympic gold medalists John Smith (1990), Bruce Baumgartner (1995) and Rulon Gardner (2000).
The Woodbine, Md., native concluded his collegiate career with an overall record of 75-5 and a lone loss in the last three seasons combined.
Mitchell is the 11th representative all-time from the women’s basketball program to earn this honor, the highest total among all Ohio State teams.
Mitchell finished her career as the program’s first four-time All-American and the NCAA’s second all-time leading scorer with 3,402 career points. She also made 497 career three-pointers which is 56 more than any other female in NCAA history. Mitchell owns 30 OSU, Big Ten or NCAA records and is just one of four players in NCAA history with more than 3,000 points and 500 assists. She was named the 2018 Dawn Staley Award recipient, given to the country’s most outstanding collegiate guard. Less than a week later, the Indiana Fever selected Mitchell No. 2 overall in the 2018 WNBA Draft.
The Cincinnati native was just the second Buckeye to earn first team All-Big Ten honors four times and she was a three-time Big Ten Player of the Year. Mitchell averaged 25.7 points, 4.7 assists and 4.0 three-pointers over the three wins in this year’s Big Ten Tournament to be named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
For her career, Mitchell was a part of 106 wins, two Big Ten Championships, a Big Ten Tournament title and made the NCAA Tournament all four years.
Wrestling winners of Ohio State Male Athlete of the Year
2009 J Jaggers Wrestling
2014 Logan Stieber Wrestling
2015 * Logan Stieber Wrestling
2016 Kyle Snyder Wrestling
2017 * Kyle Snyder Wrestling
2018 Kyle Snyder Wrestling
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