Olympic Gold Medalist Kyle Snyder runs BTS clinic in Trenton

Last Weekend Beat the Streets Trenton, in correlation with the Princeton chapter of the Wrestlers in Business Network, held a free wrestling clinic featuring Olympic gold medalist Kyle Snyder and Ohio State head coach Tom Ryan. Saturday night featured several exhibition matchups between wrestlers from the BTS Trenton and Philadelphia programs. The featured exhibition of the evening was former BTSP assistant mentoring director and current George Mason assistant Canaan Bethea and former NCAA finalist and Princeton Regional Training Center wrestler Nick Heflin. Heflin won the bout by decision, but those in attendance appreciated the effort from both wrestlers. Following the matches, Snyder and Ryan both gave speeches on the importance of hard work and surrounding yourself with the right people. Jose Rodriguez, owner of JPROD DJs & Event Evolutions, generously provided MC services for the evening, and kept the event moving nicely. Sunday morning Snyder ran the clinic which was attended by over 75 youth wrestlers. The Olympic gold medalist focused primarily on showing his signature “low single”, which he used to clinch his 2015 World gold medal. BTSP wrestler Ousmane Diarra wrestled in the Saturday night exhibition and attended the Sunday clinic where he worked one on one with Snyder perfecting his shots. “In my match I tried ankle pics many times but was unsuccessful. The next day, in the clinic, Snyder dedicated the whole day to ankle pics and low singles. He personally talked to me and showed me what I was doing wrong. To me, it was incredible because this was an Olympic champion who was giving his time to me by watching and taking notes on my match. Not only that, but Snyder also gave good advice on matters off the mat. He gave a very inspiring speech about his own personal struggle and how wrestling helped him surmount the impediments in his way. Perhaps the most important thing I saw was that Snyder was still hungry even though he was already the best in the world. For an Olympic champ, he was very humble and thankful. He sincerely cared about making a difference and you could tell that everything he said was coming straight from the heart.” This event wouldn’t have been possible without the efforts of Alex Bethea, head of the Trenton Youth Wrestling Club, and Mark McLaughlin, president of the Princeton chapter of the Wrestlers in Business Network, as well as the many other volunteers who contributed their time and effort.