Gable Steveson knows you can’t win them all.
The Olympic gold medal wrestler who suffered a spectacularly upset loss at Saturday’s 2025 NCAA Division I Wrestling National Championship is because that’s how the sport moves from time to time. He was highly fond of winning the University of Minnesota’s third national title, Steveson gave up a late takedown to Oklahoma’s Wyatt Hendrickson and finished the game with a 5-4 score.
It was the first takedown that Steveson surrendered for a long time throughout the season.
“First, I would like to thank Gopher Wrestling,” Steveson wrote on Instagram. “When I left in 2022 from an 18 year old to a 24 year old (or, as some say) I had this itch to give one at a time. I’m happy to be able to give the university the light that deserves it!
“There was a road collision, which makes the sport so crazy! But we live for moments like this!! Ultimately, we won, loss never defines what I tried to do for the sport of wrestling.
Steveson returned to college in his final year of qualification after winning an Olympic gold medal during a 2020 match and signed a lucrative contract to participate in WWE.
Unfortunately, wrestling didn’t go well for Steveson as he was eventually released from his contract. He signed a deal to join the Buffalo Bills and attended training camp in 2024, but Steveson did not make the final cut.
Steveson was interested in potentially participating in the training squad, but eventually decided to return to college and wrestling in Minnesota for the last time.
He was undefeated during the season and won another big 10 titles before running the NCAA Tournament in a dominant year, he came across Hendrixson, an EU within the Air Force who moved to Oklahoma in his final year when student-athletes at the Service Academy were not available.
“I appreciate my supporters for all my love throughout my time in college wrestling,” Steveson said. “From skipping warm-ups to staying late regardless of all the duals, talking to everyone was definitely worth the time!
“To all the suspicious people and deniers I had this year.. No matter how you felt… you’re still watching and I’ll thank you too.”
Although Steveson did not directly address his future, he previously told MMA Fighting that he plans to pursue his second gold medal at the Olympics landing in Los Angeles in 2028.
In addition to his plan to return to wrestling, Steveson also openly discussed plans to eventually move to MMA, especially after working together at training camp to prepare for a fight with Stipe Miocic this November.