Award Season

Snyder, Zadick Take Top Honors at USOC’s Team USA Awards

Thursday, November 30, 2017 - 15:50 By

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LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The United States Olympic Committee today announced the winners for the 2017 Team USA Awards presented by Dow, Best of the Year, recognizing the outstanding achievements of Team USA athletes, teams and coaches.

The Male Olympic Athlete of the Year is 2017 World champion freestyle wrestler Kyle Snyder (Woodbine, Md./Titan Mercury WC/Ohio RTC).

“This is great because Team USA is built from a ton of amazing and talented athletes. To be awarded this title is pretty special,” said Snyder.

Snyder becomes just the fourth wrestler to win a USOC Athlete of the Year award, joining Olympic and World champions John Smith in 1990, Rulon Gardner in 2000 and Jordan Burroughs in 2015.

Snyder won the 97 kg World gold medal in what was dubbed the “Match of the Century,” defeating Olympic champion and two-time World champion Abdulrashid Sadulaev of Russia in the finals. His win gave the USA the World Team title over Russia by one team point. 

“In the World finals, I faced someone that many people think is one of the greatest of all time, and I competed well. I was able to train hard both mentally and physically for the World Championships,” said Snyder.

“We are really excited to see Kyle recognized by the U.S. Olympic family for his incredible contributions to USA Wrestling’s program and the U.S. Olympic movement. Congratulations to Kyle, his family, his coaches and his teammates on this achievement,” said USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender.

USA Wrestling National Freestyle Coach Bill Zadick, who led Team USA to the World Team Title in freestyle wrestling, was named National Olympic Coach of the Year.

The United States edged Russia by one point to win the 2017 Freestyle World Team Title, its first in 22 years going back to 1995, and only its third ever. 

“It is an honor to be included in this group of excellent coaches, which is humbling. A good plan is contingent upon good people in the right places. We have a vision to be the best and believed we could be World Champion. It is a victory for everybody,” said Zadick.

Zadick became National Freestyle Coach in August 2016 and was in his first year leading the program after more than seven years as an Assistant National Freestyle Coach. 

“We are extremely excited to see Bill Zadick recognized with such a prestigious honor. In the short time that Bill has been National Freestyle Coach, he has established himself as one of the very best coaches and leaders in Olympic sport. He is a great coach but even a better person,” said Bender.

Zadick is the first USA Wrestling coach to win the USOC Olympic Coach of the Year award, and only the second to win any USOC coaching award. 

#WrestleTirana

European Championships 2026 Day 3: Women's Wrestling Highlights

Wednesday, April 22, 2026 - 08:27 By Vinay Siwach

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TIRANA, Albania (April 22) -- After two days of intense Greco-Roman action, the European Championships will shift to Women's Wrestling with five weight classes - 50kg, 55kg, 59kg, 68kg and 76kg.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | Women's Wrestling Preview

https://link.uww.org/UWWPlus

12:40: Emanuela LIUZZI (ITA), leading her 50kg quarterfinal, 9-3 with 45 seconds left in the match against Emilia GRIGORE VUC (ROU), suffers a 19-9 loss. Vuc scores a takedown to cut the lead to 9-5. She then trips Liuzzi for another takedown for two points and then turns her six times to finish the bout.

12:25: Oksana LIVACH (UKR), the defending champion at 50kg and wrestling first time in quarterfinals, uses a strong gut-wrench to beat Svenja JUNGO (SUI), 12-1, and advance to the semifinals.

12:05: Martina KUENZ (AUT), chasing her first European title, with a flurry of quick action and she finishes her quarterfinal against Elmira YASIN (TUR), 10-0. Big step towards winning the gold medal.

11:55: Defending champion at 76kg Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR) does not let Valeriia TRIFONOVA (UWW) settle in their 76kg quarterfinal. She scores two takedowns to lead 4-0 before a flurry of stepouts. She finishes the match with a takedown on edge, 10-0.

11:45: Alina SHAUCHUK (UWW) gets her second win of the tournament as she uses a gut-wrenches to beat Noemi SZABADOS (HUN) 10-0 and advance to the semifinals at 68kg.

11:40: Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW), the defending champion at 55kg, goes down to U23 world silver medalist Tuba DEMIR (TUR) in the quarterfinals. Demir pushed the pace of the match and led 8-0. As Verbina was working on a takedown, Demir scored a counter exposure but Verbina quickly turned it around and made it 10-2 to avoid a technical superiority. Verbina challenged the first exposure but lost which made the score 11-2. A takedown and turn cut the lead to 11-6 but Demir managed another takedown at the end to win 13-6, downing the defending champion

11:30: Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR) works up an 8-0 victory over Veronika KONSEVICH (MKD) at 55kg. Malanchuk used four different takedowns to score her points.

11:25: Martina KUENZ (AUT), the returning bronze medalist at 76kg, opens the second period with a big throw and then holds Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (UWW) on the mat to secure the fall.

11:15: Tindra SJOEBERG (SWE) secures a fall over Daniela BRASNAROVA (BUL) in just 27 seconds at 68kg.

11:05: U23 world silver medalist and returning bronze Valeriia TRIFONOVA (UWW) takes her time but she works on an 11-0 victory over Fanni NAGY NAD (SRB) and advance to the quarterfinals at 76kg.

10:55: First match at 68kg and defending champion Alina SHAUCHUK (UWW) faces Karolina DOMASZUK (POL). Shauchuk, who recently won the U23 European title as well, starts off with a 10-0 technical superiority win.