The 19-year-old produced a battling display against defending champion Abdusalam Gadisov of Russia in the final, winning on criteria after the two competitors finished level at 5-5.

Snyder, the 2013 junior world champion, snagged his opponent's foot for a 5-4 lead with 30 seconds remaining and then shrugged off a penalty for fleeing to win by having scored two two-point techniques to Gadisov’s one.

"The goal has always been winning the gold medal at the senior level, whether it was the World Championships or the Olympics," said Snyder. 

"I worked harder for this [than for the junior title], so it was sweeter to win this one."

The weight category’s bronze medals went to Azerbaijan’s Khetag Gazumov and Ukraine’s Pavlo Oliinyk as Georgia’s Elizbar Odikadze and Iran's Abbas Mohammadtaher Tahan fell just short of a podium place.

Abdulrashid Sadulaev went one better than compatriot Gadisov in the men’s freestyle 86kg final as the 19-year-old overcame Turkey’s Selim Yasar, last year's world bronze medallist, 6-0 to successfully defend his maiden world title from last year.

Azerbaijan’s Magomedgadzhi Khatiyev claimed the first bronze medal after Georgia’s Sandro Aminashvili had to pull out of their bout with a shoulder injury, while the second went to Iran’s Alireza Mohammad Karimimachiani at the expense of Bulgaria’s Mihail Petrov Ganev.

Meanwhile in the men’s freestyle 61kg category, Azerbaijan’s Haji Aliyev retained his world crown with a 10-0 technical fall triumph against Mongolia’s Nomin Batbold.

It was Aliyev’s first tournament win since claiming the world title in Tashkent a year ago.

Vasyl Shuptar of Ukraine got the better of India’s Bajrang Bajrang in the second bronze medal match, following victory for Bulgaria’s Vladimir Vladimirov Dubov against Japan’s Masakazu Kamoi.

The final women’s freestyle weight category, 60kg, also featured on the penultimate day of action and it was Ukraine’s Oksana Herhel who came out on top by defeating defending champion Tserenchimed Sukhee of Mongolia, 10-7. 

Herhel spun behind a pair of attempted takedown attempts for a 4-0 lead in the first period and hiplocked out of another in the second to secure the gold medal. 

Leigh Evelyn Jaynes picked up the host nation’s first medal of the night, beating Azerbaijan’s Irina Petrovna to the first bronze, before which Bulgaria’s Dzhanan Filipova Manolova had seen off China’s Yazhen Sun.

Japan finished at the summit of the women’s freestyle standings with 51 points, followed by China on 42 and the US on 31.

The World Championships are set to conclude tomorrow with the remaining men’s freestyle competitions at 57kg, 70kg, 74kg and 125kg all due to feature.


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