I grew up in an Ohio State football family.

Many of my relatives graduated from the school, same as I.

Growing up in the late 1970s and early 1980s, I just missed the era of Woody Hayes and Archie Griffin, but my late father and uncle told countless stories of Buckeye lore. The stories usually involved the beloved Griffin.

>> Watch the story behind Griffin’s record-setting OSU debut

So I understand the reverence there is for Griffin, college football’s only two-time Heisman Trophy winner.

For many, any discussion of a Mount Rushmore of Ohio State athletes must begin with Good Ole Arch. I get it, and I respect those who share that view.

The times they are a changing, at least from this corner. The OSU Mount Rushmore needs a new face, and someone has to go.

Goodbye Archie, hello Kyle Snyder.

For those who aren’t familiar with Snyder, he’s the OSU wrestler who just finished his college career with his third NCAA title March 17 at Quicken Loans Arena at the NCAA Division I Wresting Tournament.

>> Watch Snyder clinch his NCAA title at The Q

There’s more to Snyder than just college championships.

A wrestler finding his way onto any OSU fan’s Mount Rushmore means that athlete has to be extraordinary. Snyder is extraordinary, but more on him in a bit.

This OSU Mount Rushmore dilemma could have been easily solved by adding a fifth member, but let’s stay true to majestic carvings of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln in South Dakota.

For this Rushmore, there’s only room for four.

These three are rock-solid, end-of-discussion choices:

Jesse Owens >> He broke four world records May 25, 1935 at the Western (later the Big Ten) Conference track and field meet in the 100-yard and 220-yard dashes, the 220-yard low hurdles, and the long jump. Three years later, he won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Games, and became a world superstar.

Jack Nicklaus >> The Golden Bear is best known for winning a record 18 major golf tournaments, including six Masters. But while at Ohio State he was also medalist at the 1959 and 1961 U.S. Amateur tournaments, and won the 1961 NCAA Championship. For good measure, he took second at the U.S. Open — while still in college. He turned pro in November 1961.

Jerry Lucas >> As the years pass, Lucas becomes more and more underrated, and perhaps even underappreciated in OSU lore and beyond. In the three seasons he played at OSU, the Buckeyes were 78-6 and played in three NCAA championship games and won the 1960 title. He was the national player of the year in 1961 and 1962. In 1960, Lucas starred on the 1960 U.S. Olympic basketball team that won gold. As an NBA player, he won the NBA title with the Knicks in 1972-73, and became the only basketball player to win a championship in high school, college, the NBA and the Olympics.

Adding Snyder isn’t to diminish Griffin’s accomplishments. It’s just that Snyder’s are too great. He’s a once-in -a-lifetime athlete. Someone has to go. Sorry Arch.

While in college, Snyder split time between competing internationally, and as a Buckeye. The results are staggering. Despite being just 225 pounds, and 5-foot-11 (while giving 40, 50 and sometimes 60 pounds to his college competitors), Snyder won three NCAA titles in three seasons as a heavyweight, and lost just once. He was the NCAA runner-up at 197 as an OSU freshman.

Snyder is also a two-time World champ, and the reigning Olympic champion. That, said his coach Tom Ryan, separates Snyder from any other college wrestler ­— even Iowa State’s Cael Sanderson (and current Penn State coach), the only Division I wrestler to never lose in college.

“Greatest of all time. Greatest of all time,” said Ryan twice to hammer home the point after Snyder won his third NCAA title. “Cael Sanderson was ridiculous. Never lost, but he also never made a world team until he was out of college. This is a guy who was doing double duty. He was overseas winning world championships, also winning national championships. Unheard of. There’s not been a wrestler like him in my opinion at this point in his career.”

Said Snyder on becoming a three-time NCAA champ: “It just means that I’ve been blessed. I have a lot of natural gifts that I’m thankful for.”

Those gifts have allowed Snyder to set a standard that might be difficult for any college wrestler to surpass.

That certainly warrants Snyder a spot on this OSU Mount Rushmore, even if it means bumping an all-time great such as Griffin.

Contact Podolski at MPodolski@News-Herald.com; On Twitter: @mpodo.

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