They’re at polar opposites in the world of central Pennsylvania wrestling, but they’ve got more in common than you might expect.
The older man began grappling as a high school student in Florida—a state not known for wrestling unless you’re talking about gators. Despite his limited background as a schoolboy, he joined the Penn State team in 1986 as a walk-on. Through grit and guts, he fought his way into the Nittany Lions’ lineup at 134 pounds and competed in the 1990 and 1991 NCAA championships.
The younger man was a teenage mat sensation in Maryland, posting a high school record of 179-0 and giving up just one takedown in four years. In college, he wrestled for Ohio State—nobody’s perfect, right?—as an undersized heavyweight and captured three NCAA crowns. Still only 28 years old, this gifted athlete already holds Olympic gold and silver medals along with three World Championship crowns and 10 Pan American titles. Now a resident athlete with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, he is the below-the-radar answer to this trivia question: “Who is the most highly-decorated wrestler in Centre County?”
Some folks might wonder what a former walk-on who coaches a middle school team (Chad Dubin) has in common with an Olympic gold medalist who is training to win another gold (Kyle Snyder). Well, it’s like my Sunday School pal used to say: “If you don’t know the answer, just guess ‘Jesus’ and you’ll probably be right.”
WORKING TOGETHER
Indeed, it was their mutual Christian faith that brought together Chad Dubin and Kyle Snyder. They met soon after Snyder and his wife, Maddie, moved to Happy Valley in 2019 to enhance his training for international competition. Fittingly enough, they were introduced by another former Penn State walk-on wrestler, Joe Bastardi, who has since become better known as a broadcasting meteorologist.
The first common venture for Dubin and Snyder was a January 2023 podcast (still available on Dubin’s coachj.org site) that featured Snyder’s story of overcoming competition anxiety through faith. It might seem odd that a near-invincible athlete might fear defeat, but Snyder says his quest for success had produced a dread of failure. “It wasn’t until after I made it to the NCAA finals my freshman year of college and got pinned that I realized that I put my whole value in who I was as a wrestler and not in my faith.”
After working together on the podcast, the two began to pray about beginning a once-per-month Sunday service in a home in order to make worship and the Bible more accessible for folks with an aversion to church. “Even when we did the first home worship service last spring,” says Dubin, “it happened very naturally with prayer for God’s guidance.”
And then, perhaps most notably, a weekly Bible study for teenagers grew out of the monthly service. Given their own adolescent experiences with sports, Chad and Kyle figured — correctly — that they could offer meaningful lessons to young athletes.
THE “TAG” BOYS
Begun last June, the weekly Wednesday meetings called “TAG” have grown slowly but steadily, bringing together as many as 12 boys in Dubin’s home. Almost all are young athletes from the Bellefonte area, but kids from rival schools are welcome. A typical gathering will blend games like air hockey and foosball with Bible study and with opportunities for the students to informally discuss their needs and questions.
Thus far, the group has finished a study of Genesis and is now working through Exodus. Dubin is a constant presence; Snyder attends and teaches whenever his schedule allows. Other friends have visited, such as wrestling/MMA star Bo Nickal, former Penn State basketball player Tyler Smith and former pro soccer player, Maddie Nolf, the wife of wrestler Jason Nolf.
Why the name? “The kids started calling themselves ‘the TAG boys,’” says Dubin. “They made that up, and it just stands for ‘talk about God.’ We want kids to understand that talking about God can be fun. There’s serious times and there’s times when you can laugh at God’s sense of humor.”
Of course, the presence of an Olympic gold medalist is a unique factor. But Kyle doesn’t want to be a “big name” within the group. Rather he says, “I just want them to know that I care about them and I want them to grow in faith.”
And yet Snyder’s success — and the lessons he’s learned along the way — provide key lessons at TAG. “A lot of times,” notes Dubin, “he’ll share an example from his wrestling, and I can feel the young men in the room paying extra attention like, ‘Whoa, this is going to be on the test.’ But it’s a neat part of the ministry that Kyle knows the word of God really well and he can use real-life examples from training, injury or competition that really hit home.”
HUMILITY IS CRUCIAL
How about the dynamics of their partnership? How do men of two different generations work together, not to mention two wrestlers from vastly different levels of achievement? According to Dubin, “Some people could say, ‘Oh, he’s your junior. That could be a block.’ But I decided I was going to absorb as much as I can from Kyle because of how much he’s dug into God’s word and how he’s such a good leader and inspiration.
“Our ability to work together is a testament to Kyle’s humility. If he was a typical high-level athlete, it wouldn’t work for him to partner with someone like me.”
Snyder, meanwhile, is more likely to value his past struggles than to flaunt his triumphs.
“My testimony is the number one thing that gets through to kids,” he says, “because everybody struggles with wrestling. It’s so intense and it’s very difficult mentally, and you can get really anxious. I’m thankful to have gone through it (competition anxiety) because I think a lot of coaches and parents get really frustrated with their kids. They’re like, ‘Why can’t they change? Why can’t they overcome this?’ But from my experience, if I didn’t come to Jesus, I’d still be doing the same thing.”
No wonder, then, that Snyder is spearheading a special “Sunday Olympic Service” to be held at The Penn Stater Hotel on April 21, the day after the Olympic Trials conclude in nearby Bryce Jordan Center. Kyle himself — perhaps a newly-minted member of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team — will serve as host for the event and share some of his spiritual insights. Maddie Nolf will lead worship and Don Frederick, Kyle’s pastor in Ohio, will give a short message. Those interested can find more information at CoachJ.org.
BUILDING A FELLOWSHIP
It’s been less than a year since the TAG meetings began, but kids and parents are already reporting positive outcomes.
Ashten Howell, a freshman who played safety and receiver on the Bellefonte junior varsity football team, says he’s grown in avoiding negative choices. “If I’m thinking of doing something that I shouldn’t be doing, if I’m getting peer pressure,” says Ashten, “I think, ‘Would God want me to do this?’ ‘Would Jesus do this if he was here?’”
The ninth grader also notes that he’s gained a more unselfish perspective toward other students. “At school,” he says, “I’m knowing now that not everything’s about me. God created us, and he’s the center of the world and I’m not.”
Both of Ashten’s brothers—11th-grader Aden and seventh-grader Alten—are also participants in TAG. Based on the spiritual growth and personal maturation of her sons, their mother is a big believer in the group. “They still bicker a little back and forth,” says Amy Johnstonbaugh, “but it has really brought them together to respect and honor each other as much as teenagers can. There’s more harmony, more togetherness.”
As for TAG’s group dynamics, Johnstonbaugh is both surprised and impressed. “The boys in this group were not a group that previously hung out,” she notes. “This absolutely has come together from God.”
Chad Dubin’s own son, Lincoln, is a consistent participant — something that’s come from his own choice rather than his father’s influence. Says Chad, “I really wanted him to know that just because his dad’s doing something that doesn’t mean he has to. But the first night we got together (for TAG), he just came downstairs with his Bible in his hand and was ready to go.”
Lincoln, a gymnast and a freshman at Bellefonte High School, says this of his involvement with TAG: “I think it’s really cool because not a lot of people do it (take part in a fellowship group), and it helps me get closer to God.”
NAME RECOGNITION
Mark and Erica Gall are the parents of three other TAG members: Isaac is a sophomore, Andrew is an eighth grader and Levi is a sixth grader. All three boys wrestle and play football and baseball.
Mark and Erica are both well-positioned to appreciate the work of the TAG leaders — Mark because he qualified for the Ohio state championships as a high school wrestler and Erica because she is a teacher at Benner Township Elementary School.
As for Mark, he heard about a ministry meeting through a text message that went to Erica. “Some guy named Kyle Snyder is going to be there,” she told her husband. “Do you think the kids would like to go?” Mark already knew about Snyder and responded accordingly. “I think they would,” he said. “I think I would.”
“It’s funny looking back,” admits Erica. “I had no idea about anything. But when I told the kids about this guy who was going to be there, their jaws dropped.”
Although there was an initial celebrity appeal with Kyle, the Gall kids soon focused on the message of TAG. “We’ve always taken the kids to church,” says Erica, “but they’re at an age where they need to feel a connection to the (leader) in order to be vulnerable and really open up. It didn’t matter what my husband and I were saying to them. It’s not that they were in opposition to it. It was just, ‘Mom’s talking at me again. Dad’s talking at me again.’ So that was something I had prayed about for a very long time. It was heavy on my heart.”
CONNECTION BRINGS IMPACT
According to Andrew, that connection came easily with both Chad and Kyle — Chad as an enthusiastic motivator and Kyle as a listener. As a result, TAG has paid dividends in the life of an eighth grader. “It’s definitely brought me closer to God,” he says. “I think it’s pretty special, honestly. I’m just glad to be part of it and it’s impacted my life a lot.”
Because Andrew wrestles on the Bellefonte Area Middle School team, the Galls have been able to observe Chad Dubin’s work from two perspectives. Not only do they see the fruit of his TAG group, but they appreciate his approach to coaching.
“He’s invested,” says Erica. “He’s not just there for the wrestling. I feel like he loves the sport, but he loves the kids more. He is such a picture of what a coach should be in a community. And what he’s teaching them off the mat is even more important than what he’s teaching on the mat. I don’t know if Chad and Kyle realize what an impact they’re having.”
