LIVING THE DREAM — Above, gold medal winner Kyle Snyder, an Ohio State wrestler arrives at the Columbus Airport following his time at the Rio Olympics. Greeting Snyder is Dustin Myers, right, with his son Jack. (Contributed)

COLUMBUS — At Edison High School, Dustin Myers was, what he considers, an average wrestler.

“And, it’s nice putting it that way,” Myers points out.

He started on the mat as a sophomore and fell in love with the sport. Nearly 20 years later, he gets to be involved in wrestling on a daily basis. In Columbus, Myers is the strength and conditioning coordinator for the Ohio State wrestling team, and he also trains Olympic hopefuls at the Ohio Regional Training Center.

“I always kind of joke that I’m the worst wrestler in the history of the sport who gets to train Olympic champions,” Myers said. “I get on the mat with them a few times, but it doesn’t turn out that well for me.”

However, things did turn out well for one of Myers’ pupils at the Rio Olympics. Kyle Snyder, a rising junior for the Buckeyes, became the youngest Olympic champion in United States history when he won a gold medal.Edison grad Dustin Myers helps train Olympic athletes, including gold medalist Kyle Snyder

“Kyle is a pretty special athlete,” Myers said. “Whether I was his strength coach or not, he would have won a gold medal.”

As a freshman at Ohio State, Snyder was an All-American and the national runner up at 197 pounds. That offseason, he became the youngest World Champion in USA wrestling history, topping defending champ Abdusalam Gadisov of Russia in the goal medal match.

As a sophomore, Snyder went 11-0 in the regular season before becoming a Big 10 and NCAA Champion at 285 pounds.

“Kyle is the type of athlete who doesn’t leave anything to chance,” Myers said. “Everything is calculated — what he eats, how he trains, when he is going to sleep and how long he is going to sleep. It’s what you expect from a 35 year old veteran, not a 20 year old college student. If you were to follow him around for 24 hours and observe how he lives his life, you would understand how he has become the best wrestler on Earth. He leads by example and it has been awesome to work with him.”

It was three years ago when Myers first met Snyder. Myers was in his second year working with the Ohio State wrestling team, after volunteering for head coach Tom Ryan in 2012.

“Coach Ryan kind of noticed my work with the Olympic hopefuls and gave me an opportunity to work on his staff,” Myers said.

Myers happened to be on the OSU campus when Snyder had his official visit with the Buckeyes. He had read many articles about the three-time Maryland High School State Champion, Junior World Champion and No. 1 overall prep recruit, but he hadn’t been able to place a name to the face.

At least not yet in public.

“When I first saw him, I thought he was already a post-graduate Olympic hopeful,” Myers said. “He was actually only 16 years old taking his official visit.

“I asked one of the coaches if he was from Wisconsin, Iowa or Michigan State and he told me, ‘No, that’s Kyle Snyder and he’s a junior in high school.’ I couldn’t believe it because he carried himself like a much older guy.”

So, with Snyder in the gym, Myers asked him to take part in one of his Olympic training sessions.

“Here he was, a junior in high school, and I was leading some guys in training leading up to the 2013 World Championships,” Myers said. “I put the guys through a grueling workout and a really hard training session. One of the World Team members who was 28 years old started complaining a little bit. At that point, Kyle looked at him and said, ‘ If it’s too hard, what are you here for?’ That takes a lot of confidence for a 16 year old to say that to someone. I knew I was going to get along with him just fine.”

Through the coaching of Ryan, the training of Myers and his own natural ability, Snyder defeated Azerbaijan’s Khetag Goziumov at 97 kilograms (213 pounds) at the freestyle tournament of the Rio Olympics.

Snyder said id he could do it, anybody can.

“First thing is if you don’t love it, go back and find something you do love and chase that,” Snyder said. “You have to make sure you love it because that’s the only way you’re going to want to continue to grow. You have to be ready to work as hard as you can when you come into the room. Value the correct things and always focus on your effort. Come in with a positive attitude and be ready to learn and grow. That can take you a far way.

“If you consistently work harder than other people, you’re going to be in good shape.”

It’s safe to say, as a multiple-time champion, Snyder is living the dream.

The same can be said for Myers, a coach, business owner, writer, husband and father.

“Balance is key,” Myers said.

On top of his training jobs at Ohio State and the Olympic Regional Training Center, Myers owns Old School Gym in Pataskala, about 25 minutes east of Columbus. Along with another Ohio Valley native in Cory Gregory, Myers has owned Old School since 2003, shortly after Gregory opened his first personal training studio.

The pair began training together in Myers’ childhood home in Toronto.

“We were lifting partners since we were 16, back in 1994,” Myers said. “We used to lift weights in my dad’s garage. My dad was the one who originally introduced me to weightlifting.”

Gregory, who founded MusclePharm, is involved in another project with Myers. Their new website maxeffortmuscle.com was launched this week. It will provide fitness tips, as well as supplement suggestions and free exercises.

“For us, it’s more about helping the customer as opposed to us convincing a customer to buy supplements,” Myers said. “We want young wrestlers from as far away as North Dakota to be able to do the same workouts that I have Kyle Snyder doing. That will be something really cool that we’re going to be doing through the maxeffortmuscle site.”

This isn’t Myers’ first venture into the online world as he writes a monthly column on muscleandstrength.com.

While encouraging others to work out to the fullest extent, Myers keeps his personal standards high, too. He was recently on the cover of a fitness magazine in June and he works out with former Ohio State athletes like Beanie Wells and Maurice Clarett.

“I always try to lead with value and attempt to make a difference,” Myers said.

His family gets involved, as well. He works out with his wife, Julie, a Toronto High School graduate, on lunch breaks. And, he’s even built small apparatuses for his small children, Mia Jane and Jack, to use in the backyard.

“I’m not pushing them to play sports or anything like that,” Myers said. “I’m not going to be that kind of dad. However, we do encourage our children to stay active and eat right to maintain a healthy lifestyle.”

An extension of his family remains in the Ohio Valley, although he doesn’t share a direct bloodline. His high school wrestling coach, Doug Knight, is now an assistant at Indian Creek. For the past few summers, he has brought the Redskins to Columbus to train with Myers at the great facilities there. Also, other friends like Mike Smith of Smitty’s Floors and Chuck Spencer of Rocky Road Gym remain close to Myers.

“I’m blessed to come from a great upbringing and I’m fortunate to do what I’m able to do each day,” Myers said. “I truly love what I do.”