- Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Hendrickson defeated two-time NCAA champion and Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson for the heavyweight title at the NCAA Wrestling Championships.
- Hendrickson, a U.S. Air Force Second Lieutenant, secured a takedown with 18 seconds left in the match to win 5-4.
- Oklahoma State finished third as a team, behind Penn State and Nebraska.
PHILADELPHIA — Wyatt Hendrickson had not yet moved to Stillwater last summer to begin training with the Oklahoma State wrestling team when coach David Taylor sent a simple text message.
Wyatt Hendrickson, national champion.
Taylor, the first-year OSU coach, sent similar messages regularly, but on Saturday night in front of a packed Wells Fargo Center, Hendrickson brought the words to life.
The second-seeded Hendrickson scored a takedown of Minnesota’s top-seeded Gable Steveson with 18 seconds left, holding on from there for a 5-4 decision in the heavyweight title match at the NCAA Championships.
Steveson was a heavy favorite. Undefeated. A two-time national champion and 2020 Olympic gold medalist.
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Put all that aside — yes, all of it — and remember this: Steveson hadn’t been taken down by any opponent all season.
So when Hendrickson got to Steveson’s right leg and began to gain ground toward a takedown, a seismic shift rippled through the arena.
More: Inside Wyatt Hendrickson’s unique journey from Air Force to Oklahoma State wrestling
“I’ve never felt so strong,” Hendrickson said of the moment he secured the takedown. “I got the takedown and he kind of took that little second to relax, and I took advantage of it.
“I looked at the clock and I was just squeezing him. I had made it this far and I knew I was gonna win this match. I don’t care if I had to rip my arms off squeezing him, I was holding this man down and winning this match.”
The Cowboys finished third as a team, a remarkable achievement in Taylor’s first season. Penn State won the title with 177 points, followed by Nebraska at 117. Iowa took fourth at 81.
OSU’s Dean Hamiti Jr. became a national champion at 174 pounds earlier in the night, which only added to the thrill when Hendrickson finished off the upset of Steveson.
“That’s one of the greatest matches I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” Taylor said. “It’s almost surreal in the corner to think, we’re — we have a chance here. And Wyatt, he believed it.”
Belief is what Hendrickson felt from Taylor as the two worked to build him toward his goals throughout the season.
“It’s having a high level of trust,” Hendrickson said. “When they tell me something, sometimes you feel a different way. It’s better to just shut up, they know what they’re talking about.
“Just those little things he’s been putting in my head. He’s been consistent. He’s believed in me, as well as everyone on the training staff. Everything Coach Taylor and the guys told me to do, I was willing to do it, because I wanted to be a national champion.”
More: OSU’s Dean Hamiti Jr. upsets Missouri’s Keegan O’Toole for NCAA wrestling championship
Belief is the reason Taylor sent those text messages. It was the pitch Taylor sold Hendrickson in his recruiting, and together, they delivered the finished product.
“It’s just seeing something, verbalizing it, believing it,” Taylor said of his motivation for the texts. “It’s just gotta become something that is part of your name, that when you step out there, you’re gonna win.
“Maybe the first time, you kinda chuckle at it. Then you’re like, ‘Oh, you know, I think I can do this.’ Then it starts to become part of what you are. It’s just to remind him, dude, you can do some great things.”
Hendrickson’s 27-0 season was filled with greatness, but nothing more than what he showed in his final two matches. He pinned his first three opponents at the NCAA Championships, bringing his season total to 13.
That got him to the semifinals, where he had to face the reigning heavyweight champion, Penn State’s Greg Kerkvliet, who Hendrickson defeated 8-2.
That set the stage for Steveson-Hendrickson. An Olympic champion vs. a U.S. Air Force Second Lieutenant.
Hendrickson ran to the mat with the American flag draped over his shoulders, not as a slight to Steveson’s Olympic past, but to his own love of the country he serves — though Steveson might’ve taken it differently.
“Going out there, I was pretty focused,” Hendrickson said. “I noticed as I was walking up on the mat, he was kind of walking over to me to say something.
“He was an Olympic champion. He’s walked with that flag around his shoulders. I just took it as respect. He’s an Olympic champion and I was going up against an Olympic champion. I wasn’t doing that in any way, shape or form to mock him. I’m proud of my service, what I’ve done and what I’ll continue to do.”
More: Watch Wyatt Hendrickson deliver ‘biggest upset’ in NCAA wrestling history for OSU Cowboys
Hendrickson has stated his goal of reaching the Olympics in 2028, a pursuit that has been aided by the Air Force’s World Class Athlete Program. As a graduate of the Air Force Academy, the WCAP gave him the opportunity to compete at OSU this year, and to continue training for the Olympics the next three years.
And if Saturday proved anything, it’s that Hendrickson can compete with the world’s best.
“Wyatt believed,” Taylor said. “Honestly, not one time this year did we talk about wrestling Gable. From the moment he got there, it was just, let’s become a better wrestler. I told him, ‘When you get here, I’ll have a plan for you. It’ll keep you healthy. And I’ll get you at your best at the national tournament.’ This whole year, he bought into that.
“When you get a 260-pound guy like that, who’s motivated and hungry, with that kind of athleticism, who starts to learn his technique and dial things in and focus, anything can be possible. That’s really what happened tonight.”
