By Gary Abbott
USA Wrestling
PARIS, France - Capping off an inspiring run at 76 kg in women’s freestyle, 20-year-old Kennedy Blades won a silver medal at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on Sunday at the Champ-de-Mars Arena. It was the last match of the entire wrestling competition of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, and a great showcase of women’s wrestling worldwide.

Blades was edged by 2023 World champion Yuka Kagami of Japan, 3-1. The first period ended tied at 1-1. Blades was placed on the shot clock and did not score, making it 1-1 for Kagami. A Blades double leg shot ended as a step out to tie it at 1-1. In the move of the bout, Kagami scored a takedown on the edge for a 3-1 lead. No more scoring occurred and Kagami became Olympic champion.

In addition to her 2023 World gold, Kagami also claimed a 2022 World bronze medal. She won two U17 World titles, a U20 World title and a U23 World silver medal.

Blades was a 2021 U20 World champion, a 2023 U23 World silver medalist and a 2023 U20 World bronze medalist. She defeated 2020 Olympic silver medalist and six-time World champion Adeline Gray to make the U.S. Olympic Team.

Blades won a wide-open 8-6 match over No. 1 seed and two-time World medalist Aiperi Medet Kyzy of Kyrgyzstan in the semifinals on Saturday.  In the quarterfinals, Blades edged 2019 U23 World champion and No. 5 seed Milaimys Marin Portillo of Cuba, 4-3. She opened with a powerful 11-0 technical fall over 2020 European bronze medalist and No. 4 seed Catalina Axente of Romania.

Blades attended Arizona State, where she trained with the Sunkist Kids. She recently signed with the University of Iowa and will begin with their women’s wrestling team shortly after the Olympics. She attended high school at Wyoming Seminary in Pennsylvania. Blades is a native of Chicago, Ill.

Competing in his third Olympic Games, Kyle Snyder placed fifth at 97 kg, falling in a bronze-medal match to two-time U23 World champion Amarali Azarpira of Iran, 4-1. Azarpira scored a first-period takedown on a re-shot, to lead 2-0 at the break. In the second period, Azarpira was put on the shot clock and did not score, making it 2-1. While Snyder took the attack, Azarpira was able to get two more step-out points for the 4-1 win.

Snyder was a 2016 Olympic champion and 2020 Olympic silver medalist. He boasts three World titles. By placing fifth, Snyder’s U.S. record streak of nine straight World and Olympic medals was halted.

Snyder was a three-time NCAA champion and four-time finalist for Ohio State. He was a Prep School national champion for Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Maryland, and graduated from Coronado High School in Colorado while training at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center. He is a native of Woodbine, Maryland.

The other U.S. wrestler in Group 6, Zain Retherford at 65 kg, withdrew from his repechage match last night due to medical precaution after a head injury during his match on Saturday. He finished in 13th place in the weight class.

Team USA finished with seven medals in wrestling at Olympic Games Paris 2024, with four in women’s freestyle and three in men’s freestyle.

This included gold medals by Amit Elor at 68 kg and Sarah Hildebrandt at 53 kg in women’s freestyle. Silver medals went to Spencer Lee at 57 kg in men’s freestyle and Kennedy Blades at 76 kg in women’s wrestling. Bronze medals were earned by Kyle Dake at 74 kg and Aaron Brooks at 86 kg in men’s freestyle, plus Helen Maroulis at 57 kg in women’s freestyle.

For Maroulis, it was her third career Olympic medal, a gold in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and bronze medals in Tokyo in 2020 and Paris in 2024. She became the first U.S. woman to win three Olympic medals in wrestling.

Hildebrandt became a two-time Olympic medalist, with her gold in Paris to go with her bronze in Tokyo in 2020. Dake won his second Olympic bronze medal, to go with a bronze in 2020 in Tokyo.

OLYMPIC GAMES PARIS 2024

At Paris, France, August 11

Group 6 results

Men’s Freestyle 65 kg

Gold - Kotaro Kiyooka (Japan)

Silver - Rahman Amouzadkhalili (Iran)

Bronze –Sebastian Rivera (Puerto Rico)

Bronze –Islam Dudaev (Albania)

5th - Tulga Tumur-Ochir (Mongolia)

5th - Ismail Musukaev (Hungary)

7th - Vazgen Tevanyan (Armenia)

8th - Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan)

9th - Maxim Sacultan (Moldova)

10th - Georgii Okorokovv (Australia)

Gold - Kotaro Kiyooka (Japan) dec. Rahman Amouzadkhalili (Iran), 10-3

Bronze –Sebastian Rivera (Puerto Rico) dec. Tulga Tumur-Ochir (Mongolia), 10-9

Bronze –Islam Dudaev (Albania) dec. Ismail Musukaev (Hungary), 13-12

Men’s Freestyle 97 kg

Gold - Akhmed Tazhudinov (Bahrain)

Silver - Givi Matcharashvili (Georgia)

Bronze – Magomedkhan Magomedov (Azerbaijan)

Bronze –Amarali Azarpira (Iran)

5th - Murazi Mchedlidze (Ukraine)

5th - Kyle Snyder (United States)

7th - Alisher Yergali (Kazakhstan)

8th - Zbigniew Baranowski (Poland)

9th - Arturo Silot Torres (Cuba)

10th - Nicolaas De Lange (South Africa)

Gold - Akhmed Tazhudinov (Bahrain) pin Givi Matcharashvili (Georgia), 1:52

Bronze – Magomedkhan Magomedov (Azerbaijan) tech fall Murazi Mchedlidze (Ukraine), 10-0

Bronze –Amarali Azarpira (Iran) dec. Kyle Snyder (United States), 4-1

Women’s Freestyle 76 kg

Gold - Yuka Kagami (Japan)

Silver - Kennedy Blades (United States)

Bronze –Milaimy Marin Potrille (Cuba)

Bronze – Tatiana Renteria (Colombia)

5th - Aiperi Medet Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan)

5th - Genesis Reasco Valdez (Ecuador)

7th - Reetika (India)

8th - Yasemin Adar Yigit (Turkey)

9th - Davaanasan Enkh Amar (Mongolia)

10th - Zaineb Sghaier (Tunisia)

Gold - Yuka Kagami (Japan) dec. Kennedy Blades (United States), 3-1

Bronze –Milaimy Marin Potrille (Cuba) dec. Aiperi Medet Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan), 6-0

Bronze – Tatiana Renteria (Colombia) vs. Genesis Reasco Valdez (Ecuador), 2-1

Group 6 U.S. men’s freestyle results

65 kg – Zain Retherford, State College, Pa. (Titan Mercury WC/Nittany Lion WC), 13th place

LOSS Rahman Amouzadkhali (Iran), 8-0

97 kg – Kyle Snyder, State College, Pa. (Titan Mercury WC/Nittany Lion WC), 5th place

WIN Awusayiman Habila (China), 9-5

WIN Arturo Silot Torres (Cuba), pin 3:26

LOSS Akhmed Tazhudinov (Bahrain), 6-4

LOSS Amarali Azarpira (Iran), 4-1

Group 6 U.S. women’s freestyle results

76 kg – Kennedy Blades, Chicago, Ill. (Sunkist Kids), silver medal

WIN Catalina Axente (Romania), tech fall 11-0

WIN Milaimys Marin Portillo (Cuba), 4-3

WIN Aiperi Medet Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan), 8-6

LOSS Yuka Kagami (Japan), 3-1