Kyle Dake

In the age-group, Dake focused more in the Greco-Roman discipline, but in freestyle, he was a two–time FILA US National All-American and a Fargo All-American. In Greco-Roman, he was a three-time FILA US National finalist, winning the championship in 2008, as well as the US World Team Trials. He placed fourteenth at the 2008 Greco-Roman Junior World Championships.[10]

Dake made his senior freestyle debut in April 2011, at the age of 20, when he became the US university national runner-up to 2010 US national champion Andrew Howe.[11] In June, he competed at the US World Team Trials, where he posted wins over J.P O'Connor and Tyler Caldwell, going 3–2 overall.[12]

In April 2012, Dake, then a three–time NCAA champion, attempted to become the US Olympic team member at 74 kilos, but was unable to as he was defeated by Trent Paulson in the semifinals.[13] Overall, he had wins over David Taylor (pin),[14] and Nick Marable (twice) to place third.[15]

After graduation, Dake competed at the 2013 US World Team Trials in an attempt of representing the US at the 2013 World Championships, but after defeating Trent Paulson, David Taylor, and Andrew Howe, he was unable to win the best-of-three finale, falling to the defending Olympic and World Champion Jordan Burroughs, who would go on to again claim the World Championship.[16][17] Competing at the Heydar Aliyev Golden Grand Prix in Azerbaijan, Dake severely injured his hand, but still topped two-time World Champion from Russia Denis Tsargush, before losing twice to place fifth.[18] Due to his injury, Dake was unable to continue competing for the rest of 2013, and only came back in February 2014 at his championship performance from the Granma Cup, but after more injuries and infections, he sat out until November 2014, where he won a single match.[19]

During 2015, he competed at the US World Team Trials after winning the Northeastern Regionals, and was able to advance to the best–of–three finals.[20][21] Dake was once again defeated twice in a row by Jordan Burroughs, who would go on to claim his third World Championship.[22] Dake then did not compete until December, when he moved up to 86 kilograms for the US Nationals, placing first after beating David Taylor, Jon Reader, Keith Gavin and Tyrel Todd.[23] In 2016, his appearances were also scarce, as he only competed at the Alexander Medved Open, placing ninth, and at the US Olympic Team Trials.[24] At the trials, Dake defeated Richard Perry and David Taylor to advance to the best-of-three finals.[25] Facing J'den Cox, Dake was defeated in the first match, and after coming back to win the second match, he was defeated again in the third match, placing second at the US Olympic Team Trials.[26]

In 2017, Dake moved back down to 74 kilograms, and claimed the Grand Prix of Paris in January after defeating Alex Dieringer in the finals.[27] At the US Open in April, Dake once again defeated Dieringer in the semifinals, but lost to Jordan Burroughs on criteria and placed second.[28] At the US World Team Trials, Dake defeated two-time NCAA champion Isaiah Martinez and three-time NCAA champion Alex Dieringer to make the best-of-three finals.[29] Facing Jordan Burroughs, Dake took the first match on criteria, but lost twice in a row by decision, seemingly having ended the rivalry 1–7 in favor of Burroughs.[30] He competed one more time in December, when he moved up to 79 kilograms and helped Team USA reach second place at the Clubs World Cup with six technical falls.[31]

In his first event of the year, Dake competed at the Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin. After defeating Alan Zaseev and Rashid Kurbanov, he was defeated by Akhmed Gadzhimagomedov, claiming the silver medal.[32] However, he came back to the top of the podium at the World Cup, where he was able to beat Sosuke Takatani and Tariel Gaprindashvili, before defeating Jabrayil Hasanov en route to a team title.[33] Later in the month, Dake claimed his second US national title, defeating Alex Dieringer in the finale.[34] After defeating Liván López at Beat the Streets,[35] Dake made his first US World Team at Final X: State College, when he defeated Zahid Valencia twice in a row.[36] To warm up, Dake claimed the Yasar Dogu International when he defeated Jabrayil Hasanov, Ayhan Sucu, and Ibrahim Yusubov.[37]

In October, Dake competed at the World Championships for the first time in his career, at age 27.[38] He won every match via technical fall without giving up a point up until the finals, defeating Martin Obst, Davit Khutsishvili and avenging his only loss at the weight class to Akhmed Gadzhimagomedov.[39] In the finale, Dake once again defeated Jabrayil Hasanov, on points, to comfortably claim his first World Championship.[40]

The newly crowned World Champion, Dake was unable to defend his US World Team spot in June at Final X: Rutgers against Alex Dieringer, due to a "freak accident" which required surgery, pushing the wrestle–offs for later on.[41] Instead, he came back on July at the Grand Prix of Spain, where after five matches, Dake was victorious and stood on top of the podium.[42] The wrestle–offs for the US World Team spot with Alex Dieringer took place in August, with Dake defeating Dieringer twice to defend the spot.[43] A month later, Dake competed at his second World Championships.[44] After defeating Gadzhi Nabiev and Rashid Kurbanov, he once again defeated Jabrayil Hasanov from Azerbaijan to become a two–time World Champion.[45]

Dake moved back down to 74 kilograms to attempt to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[46] In his first tournament of the year, Dake claimed the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series championship, defeating Soner Demirtaş in the finale to emerge in the rankings at 74 kg.[47] He was then scheduled to compete at the US Olympic Team Trials in April 4–5, however, the event was postponed along with the Summer Olympics due to the COVID-19 outbreak.[48] Due to the pandemic, Dake was only able to compete one more time in the year, defeating two-time World Champion (65kg and 70kg) from Italy Frank Chamizo while headlining FloWrestling: Dake vs. Chamizo in July.[49]

To start off the Olympic year, Dake defeated David McFadden at the SCRTC I in January 8.[50] A week later, he won gold at the Grand Prix de France Henri Deglane.[51] He then defeated Vincenzo Joseph and Jason Nolf.[52] In April, Dake competed at the rescheduled US Olympic Team Trials in April 2–3, without a seed as he would go on to get a berth to the semifinals as a World Champion at a non–Olympic weight.[53] In the challenge bracket, Dake defeated Evan Wick and Jason Nolf to head to the best of three final.[54] Facing former rival and five–time Olympic and World Champion Jordan Burroughs, Dake was able to defeat Burroughs, thus putting an end to his nine year–long reign. After one of the biggest wins of his career, Dake earned the right to represent the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[55] As a result, Dake also competed at the Pan American Continental Championships on May 30.[56] He claimed the crown after racking up 40 points against four opponents and going unscored, helping the USA reach all the 10 freestyle medals.[57]

On August 5, Dake competed at the first date of the men's freestyle 74 kg event of the 2020 Summer Olympics as one of the favorites to claim the gold medal, even though his signature weight was 79 kg.[58] After a 4–0 victory over Mostafa Hosseinkhani from Iran, Dake was defeated by Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov from Belarus, losing by technical fall for the first time since 2015 and not being able to score a point on an opponent since 2013, as well as snapping a former 49-match win streak.[59] After the stunning loss, Dake battled and rallied for the bronze medal defeating Geandry Garzón from Cuba and Frank Chamizo.[60]

As an Olympic medalist, Dake earned the right to automatically represent the United States at the 2021 World Championships without having to compete domestically to make the US World Team, and did so from October 2 to 3.[61] After a quick first day to make the finals, Dake got his redemption after defeating Tajmuraz Salkazanov to claim his third straight World Championship, and his first at 74 kilograms.[62]

In his first competition of the year, Dake defended his Pan American Championship on May 8, beating Franklin Gómez.[63]

On September 17, at the World Championships in Belgrade, Dake won his second straight world championship at 74 kg, and fourth overall. In the finals, Dake defeated Tajmuraz Salkazanov of Slovakia 3–2.[64][65]