Kyle Dake navigated his way to international wrestling’s top step with impenetrable defense. 

Kyle Snyder got there with high-powered offense. 

But when the 2024 Olympics came to a close Sunday, both were left reexamining their greatest assets as they look forward after Paris. 

Dake claimed his second Olympic bronze at 74 kilograms with a furious last-minute comeback Saturday against Serbia’s Khetik Tsabolov, while Snyder’s incredible run of nine consecutive World and Olympic podium finishes came to an end Sunday when he placed fifth at 97 kg. 

Collectively, the United States men’s freestyle team claimed three medals in Paris — Spencer Lee’s silver at 57 kg and bronzes from Dake and Aaron Brooks (86 kg). It was a pullback from the five the Americans took home from Tokyo in 2021 and also marked the first time the U.S. exited the Olympics without a men’s freestyle gold since 1968. 

Snyder is 28. He grabbed a gold in Rio and a silver in Tokyo. He has said he wants to wrestle into his 40s. 

Dake has made no such proclamations after claiming his second Olympic bronze, but the 33-year-old sounded like a guy who plans to continue competing. 

“Something I still need to work on is not letting guys in on my legs,” Dake said after his win in the bronze medal bout. “I score a lot of points there, but it’s a double-edged sword sometimes.”

The sharper end was pointing back at Dake in the Olympic semifinals, where he suffered a 20-12 loss against Japan’s Daichi Takatani. 

“That a tough one,” Dake said. “It’s not very often I put up 12 points and lose a match.”

For perspective, Dake allowed a total of 26 points in his first 21 career matches at the World Championships. He won all 21, including a 6-4 victory last September against Takatani in the World quarterfinals. 

This time around, however, Takatani operated more from space and used his quickness to pepper Dake’s right ankle with attacks. 

“It just happened that way,” Dake said. “I feel like I’m really fast and if a guy takes a low shot on me I feel really confident I’m going to score. If I wrestle him again, it’s probably not going to be the tactic. It’s just going to be go get your hands on him.”

In Snyder’s case, the issue was getting to — and finishing — his leg attacks. 

The four-time World and Olympic champion was held to five points in his last two matches of the tournament — a 6-4 semifinal defeat against reigning World champ Akhmed Tazhudinov of Bahrain and a 4-1 loss to Iran’s Amir Azarpira. His points in those two bouts came on two activity clock expirations, a step-out against Tazhudinov and a takedown in the closing seconds when he slid around Tazhudinov on the edge. 

Snyder had a first-period snatch single that he couldn’t capitalize on against Tazhudinov. In the final minute of the bronze medal match, he got one hand on a leg but couldn’t get a lock with both hands against Azarpira. 

Snyder said he’d learn from his experience in Paris and go back to work. He said he needs to get “better at setting people up, wrestling through their thumb blocks and defense and just finishing — everything everyone knows,” Snyder said. “But I’ve just got to get better at it and do it in a way where I can get to their legs and score.” 

The fifth-place finish in Paris ended Snyder’s string of nine consecutive World and Olympic podium finishes to begin his career on the Senior level. For the first time since 2015, he’ll have to go through the full process of making a World Team rather than having a pass to the best-of-three series at Final X. 

Dake’s last-minute comeback in the bronze medal match allows him to sit out to the final series of Final X if he opts to continue competing. 

Trailing 4-1 with less than 40 seconds left after a chaotic video review sequence, Dake turned up his pace to warp-speed level with fakes and snaps and ran around Tsabolov twice. The first instance resulted in a takedown. The second led to a thunderous throw and a 10-4 victory. 

“Coach Cael (Sanderson) has been talking to me this whole year and he’s like, ‘All I want you to do is get two takedowns in 45 seconds. That’s it,’” Dake said. “I’m looking over and it’s like, ‘Alright, I’ve got to get two takedowns, let’s go.’” 

The victory made Dake the 14th American to win multiple Olympic medals. 

“I was obviously upset (after the semifinals) — I wanted to win,” he said. “Everyone wants to win, and when it didn’t happen, that was tough. But how do I want to represent myself? How do I want to represent my country? What kind of example do I want to set for my kids and for kids throughout the whole world? So go out, it’s a new day, and be your best on that day.”