Examining Every Angle of Wyatt Hendrickson’s Win against Gable Steveson

I think I’ve watched every available angle of Wyatt Hendrickson’s improbable win against Gable Steveson 500 times since it happened Saturday night. Every time I swipe open my phone, I just have to see it again.

Hendrickson beat Steveson, an Olympic champion and two-time national champion, 5-4 to take home the heavyweight title at the NCAA Championships. It’s being talked about among the greatest upsets in the history of the sport.

Whenever you watch the same handful of clips hundreds of times, you start to notice things you didn’t in the heat of the moment. I thought it’d be fun to go over some of those things the day after the big match.

My Favorite Angle

 

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The first two or three times you watch that, you should look at the takedown and Hendrickson’s reactions to it. But on rewatch four or five, look at the OSU coaching staff in the corner.

David Taylor and assistant coach Tyler Caldwell are wrestling almost as hard as Hendrickson and Steveson are. About 10 seconds into the clip, Caldwell turns and delivers a two handed rib shot with some real gusto. Look at the load up:

Then the two default into just grabbing onto each other as if their grip will help Hendrickson hold the big man down.

But my favorite moment when watching the corner comes after Hendrickson returns Steveson to the mat. You can see it hit Taylor that Hendrickson just won the match. There’s a brief moment of realization on Taylor’s face before the celebration kicks off. It’s awesome.

Notes from the TV Copy

The entrances were awesome in the moment, but they are made even cooler given hindsight that Hendrickson was about to pull off the upset.

Like, look how awesome this is.

Then the prematch smack talk only added to the story. You couldn’t write it any better.

Some people feel some type of way about Daniel Cormier’s commentary. I think he’s awesome. He makes it fun.

My favorite of his calls from this match are the sentences he is able to string together in the moments after the takedown while everyone else is seemingly shocked into silence.

YOU JUST GOTTA BELIEVE BABY

pic.twitter.com/LIfSVDVIRP

— OSU Cowboy Wrestling (@CowboyWrestling) March 23, 2025

DC: “Hendrickson with the 3!”

DC: “Gable better hustle!”

DC: “The Olympic champ is about to lose!”

DC (with his voice cracking): “There’s 13 seconds!”

Any time a clock stops on 13 seconds for the rest of my life, I will think of that call.

Similarly to the realization from Taylor, it hit DC, and he just exclaims “Wyatt Hendrickson just beat Gable Steveson!”

You were probably running around your house in the immediate fallout of the final whistle, so you might have missed this moment. I’m not sure anyone was as surprised with what just happened than Steveson. He sat like this for about 10 seconds.

Steveson turned babyface again after the bout, if you haven’t seen. He gave Hendrickson his flowers while they shared the podium.

Legend 🏆#GoPokes pic.twitter.com/5xoQjH7AtL

— OSU Cowboy Wrestling (@CowboyWrestling) March 23, 2025

What a night.