"Grateful for the battle scars"- Kyle Dake pens strong message months after loss at US Open Wrestling Championship

Kyle Dake may be down right now, but he is far from over. The American freestyle wrestler shared a strong message nearly a month after losing the US Open Wrestling Championship finals.

The Olympic medalist from Ithaca, New York, posted a series of photographs on his Instagram profile, where he displayed his recent journey. The 34-year-old wrestler also quoted a verse from the Bible as his inspiration.

Dake captioned his Instagram post:

"Grateful for the battle scars and having fun while I do it. I don’t have all the answers but just enjoying the ride! [Isaiah 55:8–9]"

Dake had taken part in the US Open Wrestling Championships, which were held at the end of April 2025. Though he cruised to the finals, the freestyle wrestler lost the final bout to Zahid Valencia 4-8.

Dake posted his thoughts about the Championship and wrote in the caption:

"Thanks to my family, all my coaches, teammates, sponsors, and friends! Couldn’t be doing this without you all! I love what I do!"

Kyle Dake had upgraded himself to the 86kg freestyle category for the current Championships. He had previously won a bronze medal in men's 74kg freestyle wrestling at the Paris Olympics last year.

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Kyle Dake on overcoming his father's loss after securing Senior World Team spot

Kyle Dake talks about overcoming his father's loss [Image Source: Getty]

Kyle Dake opened up about overcoming his father's loss after securing a spot for the World Championships. The 34-year-old double Olympic medalist had lost his father, Douglas Dake, in April 2024, only months before his campaign for the Paris Olympics, where he went on to win a bronze medal.

In his conversation with USA Wrestling after the World Team trials, Dake explained [1:22 onwards]:

"A big transition for me the past year and a half, you know, just everything was going on with my dad, and thinking that I had a lot of the answers and finding out that I don't. You know, and I've grown a lot in my faith. I found Jesus, and you know he's been a huge part in me being able to grieve and heal. So I'm super thankful for that. And it's interesting just because it was my own journey. You know, I had something pretty terrible have to happen for me to get there."

Kyle Dake's father was also a wrestler who had won the Ohio state wrestling championship for Westlake High School. Douglas Dake was inducted into the Kent State Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999.