Wyatt Hendrickson, Zahid Valencia Win at Final X

Two from the Cowboy RTC have clinched a spot on Team USA at the World Championships, and a third could join them next moth.

Wyatt Hendrickson and Zahid Valencia each won a best-of-three series at Final X to earn the opportunity to represent the United States in September in Zagreb, Croatia. Both won two matches to none.

Starting with the reigning NCAA heavyweight champ, Hendrickson won his first bout against Trent Hillger via a tech fall in just 1:38, scoring on a pair of takedowns along with some exposure points.

Wyatt Hendrickson looking strong at Final X. He takes match one over Trent Hillger 10-0. pic.twitter.com/P9XyIVXsVd

— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) June 14, 2025

The second bout wasn’t nearly as straightforward, as Hendrickson won a 20-14 barnburner.

34 points in a heavyweight Final X match – ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
Trent Hillger gave Wyatt Hendrickson a match in round 2, but Cowboy Wyatt wins it 20-14 to win the series pic.twitter.com/36KzN9KuLr

— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) June 14, 2025

This marks Hendrickson’s first time on the Senior World Team after he won gold at the U23 World Championships in 2023. It also continues an epic few months for the heavyweight — beating Olympic gold medalists Gable Steveson in the NCAA final, winning the Hodge Trophy and now making the World Team.

“It feels great,” Hendrickson said. “Coach (David) Taylor is a great coach. When I talked to him for the first time before I even committed, it was just always being a champion. That was beyond NCAAs. We don’t want to just win nationals, we want to take over the world. Obviously saying that’s one thing, proving it’s another, and obviously we’re on a pretty good rolling streak right now. This year we took third at NCAAs as a team, pretty good start for his first year. We have four guys wrestling at Final X. This is just the beginning. There’s gonna be a lot more coming in the future, for sure, I guarantee it.”

Valencia’s series against four-time world champion Kyle Dake was the most hyped matchup of the event. After beating Dake in the U.S. Open final, Valencia improved to 3-0 against Dake this year with a 5-3 win and a 4-1 win to earn his spot on the World Team at 86 kg.

Bad news for the 86 kg World field – Cowboy Zahid is GOOD good. He beats Kyle Dake in two matches to make the World Team pic.twitter.com/RFGT8tT32S

— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) June 14, 2025

Valencia wrestled in college at Arizona State but made the move to the Cowboy RTC last year, not long after David Taylor was hired. Valencia was a big addition for the RTC then, and it’s a move that looks even better now that he’s headed to the World Championships for the second time.

“It wasn’t an easy move,” Valencia said. “I was very happy at ASU, but something needed to change, for sure. The definition of insanity is the same thing over and over again, expecting different results. So I knew I had to get out of my comfort zone, and man, I’ve been so grateful, so blessed. I feel like God put me in the right paths of where I need to succeed. The success just kind of proves what I was meant to do and make the move out there. I’m just so happy and so grateful, for sure.”

Cowboy RTC member Joey McKenna also wrestled at the event, but fell 2-0 in his series against Real Woods.

OSU commit Jax Forrest still has his best-of-three series to wrestle, but it was delayed at the request of his opponent, Vito Arujau.