Published Mar 23, 2025
Hendrickson shocks the wrestling world
Jeff Johnson  •  OStateIllustrated
Publisher

Wyatt Hendrickson's undefeated season continued on Saturday night in the Heavyweight national championship. His takedown of Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson with 21 seconds remaining has gone down as one of - if not the - biggest upsets in NCAA wrestlng history.

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While it was an upset by any standard, that cheapens to some degree what Hendrickson accomplished in his lone season at Oklahoma State after transferring from the Air Force academy. His win over Steveson gave him a 27-0 record on the 2024-25 season. Once the takedown was secured, the match was far from over, with Hendrickson needing to ride out the final 20 seconds.

“I was looking at the clock and I'm squeezing him,” Hendrickson said about riding out the final seconds. “I made up my mind. If he did stand up, I didn't want to lock my hands. I don't want to get a locked hands call, but I was squeezing. If he stands up, I'm just going to lock and pick him up and just hold him in the air for the last couple seconds, because I'm, like, ‘I have made it this far,’ and I knew I was going to win this match. I don't care if I had to rip my arms off squeezing him. I was, like, ‘I'm holding this man down and winning this match.’”

Hendrickson wasn't OSU's only upset on the night, as 174-pounder and 3-seeded Dean Hamiti avenged a loss the Big 12 Conference championship match to Missouri's Keegan O'Toole. Hamiti came out on top in a scramble in sudden death overtime to take the 4-1 win and claim the Cowboys first NCAA title on the night.

At 125 pounds, Troy Spratley came up just short, falling 2-1 in a tiebreaker. Still, his silver medal was relatively unexpected, Sprately put together an excellent run from the No. 7 seed.

Oklahoma State finished third in the team race, behind champions Penn State and Nebraska.

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