CNN – Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Hendrickson produced what commentators dubbed the “biggest upset in NCAA history” as he stunned Olympic champion Gable Steveson to win the heavyweight wrestling national title on Saturday.

Hendrickson trailed 4-2 in the match to Steveson but scored a shocking takedown in the final seconds – the only takedown Steveson allowed all season – to win the final 5-4 at the 2025 NCAA wrestling championships in Philadelphia.

If you’ve forgotten the name Gable Steveson by now, or never learned it in the first place, Gable Steveson is the American wrestler who won the United States a gold medal in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics by upsetting a three-time world champion in what appeared to be wrestling’s equivalent of a walk-off home run 

Since then, Gable Steveson has had a hell of a run. A run you could spin in a couple different ways. An optimist would say Gable Steveson has had an incredible few years. He won another national championship at the University of Minnesota. He had a stint as a professional wrestler in the WWE. Last year, despite never playing football before, he signed a deal with the Buffalo Bills. He packed a whole lifetime’s worth of accomplishments into a less than 5-year stretch. 

On the flip side… one might say that since Gable Steveson won the Olympic gold, he’s failed to cut it in the WWE, was quickly released by the Buffalo Bills, and returned back to college as a 24 year-old man due to college eligibility rules that seem to be constantly getting more and more lax, and blew his chance at a third national title. 

Right in President Donald Trump’s face no less.

Additionally, a “hater” might throw in the fact that in 2019, Gable Steveson was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault, and was found not guilty in what many people believe was due to a Minnesota technicality that says a person couldn’t be charged with sexual assault if the victim was willingly intoxicated. A technicality that was soon done away with, likely as a result of Steveson’s case. 

So it’s a bit of a choose your own adventure with how you want to view the last 5+ years of Gable Steveson’s collegiate, and professional, then back-to-collegiate athletic career. But regardless, Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Hendrickson pulled what some are calling the biggest upset in NCAA history yesterday. Gable Steveson hadn’t been taken down a single time all season long. Wyatt Hendrickson did so with 15 seconds remaining in the national championship match. In doing so, Wyatt Hendrickson became a 285-pound D1-college national championship. Something to pair nicely with his title as second lieutenant in the United Staes Air Force.

There was allegedly some drama surrounding Hendrickson coming out with the American flag as well. Some people thought since Gable Steveson won the gold medal, it was somehow a shot at him. And since Gable Steveson was aggressively staring him down, and said something about himself being an Olympic champion, that meant he was upset about it. 

MMA Mania – Hendrickson, a second lieutenant in the US Air Force, walked out to the mat with an American flag draped over his shoulders — a move traditionally reserved for wrestlers who have competed in the Olympics for the United States. Steveson crossed the mat and had some words with Hendrickson over the breach of protocol.Hendrickson said there was was no disrespect meant in his actions.

“I noticed when I was walking up on the mat, he was walking over to say something,” he recalled at the post-event press conference. “He talked about that he’s an Olympic champion. He’s walked with that flag around his shoulders. And so I just took it as respect, you know? He’s obviously been an Olympic champion, and I was going up against Olympic champion.”

I feel like any feelings of anger pre-match can more be chalked up to the heat of competition. I mean they were about to literally fight each other. They’re probably looking for any emotional edge possible while in the ring. If Steveson really was upset, that’s a little crazy. Idk how any one person could lay claim to the American flag. I thought the American flag was supposed to represent all Americans. And being a lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force seems like a pretty solid reason to carry one in its own right.

In the end, I’ll go ahead and lean towards saying the better man won. Wyatt Hendrickson is a better story. He seems like a pretty solid guy for the American armed forces to have on their side. He certainly doesn’t make me feel worse about our military. I wonder what sport Gable Steveson will try next. UFC seems like the next logical choice. Or maybe he should consider the military. Maybe porn. Idk. I feel like they’re all viable options for the guy. 

Congrats on the National Championship, Wyatt. TYFYS.