NCAA champion Wyatt Hendrickson praises Daniel Cormier’s commentary call

“Wyatt Hendrickson defeated Gable Steveson.”

“Wyatt Hendrickson defeated Gable Steveson.”

“Wyatt Hendrickson defeated Gable Steveson.”

This is a call that will forever go down in the history of NCAA wrestling. It’s a simple sentence, but it’s just a sentence that conveys it exactly. But reading the sentence does not encapsulate the energy that Daniel Cormier cried out.

Wyatt Hendrickson experienced the moment first hand. It will be with him until the day he dies, and he does not think he will be alone in it. But even he sees it and thinks the moment has been captured entirely by his fellow Oklahoma State Cowboy Colmier.

“Every time I hear that commentary and re-watch the final situation in DC’s comments, I get out of my seat so I don’t know what happened,” Hendrickson told MMA Junkie on Thursday. “I’ll go into it. Goosebumps only play every time, and the commentary was absolutely not outstanding. Listen to relive and screaming about the moment. Ah, that clip will run my mind for free for the rest of my life.”

But being at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on March 23rd will not win anything, Hendrickson explained. And is it in his own head? Hendrickson does not believe that English, or the language of the matter, can do justice.

“What I can really say is that it was just unrealistic,” Hendrickson said. “I mean, it was unrealistic. As soon as it happened and the final buzzer went off, I was back in reality. You can walk there. The only way to explain that is that there are a lot of great movies. I think “Creed” is in the middle.

285 NCAA Finals 🏆: Wyatt Hendrickson (OSU) beat Olympic champion Gable Steveson (Minnesota) to win the national title!!!! The biggest upset in NCAA history!!!!! pic.twitter.com/q2htnj8d4z

– Saturday Night Light (@wrestlingsnl) March 23, 2025

Hendrickson, a fifth-year senior at OSU, transferred from the US Air Force Academy through the World Class Athlete Program (WCAP), was the second seed heading to his final vs. Steveson, but was a massive underdog.

Steveson is an Olympic gold medalist and was 18-0 in the season when he played 103-2 in his NCAA career.

However, his flag was covered in his shoulders, and he was the man he called his “big boss” Donald Trump, sitting on the mat side, Lt. Col. Hendrickson said he was not falling into Steveson’s aura.

“It felt like slow motion, but I knew I took that shot,” Hendrickson said with just a few seconds left in the takedown he won in his match. As soon as I decided to pull that trigger, “This is one shot I have, so I need to make it worthwhile.” I was beginning to lose a bit of it, but I was just that confident, “I’m going to get this takedown. I want it. I want it. I want to get it bad.” It took a lot of mind just to keep doing it. ”

Once we returned to Stillwater, Oklahoma, work didn’t stop. With the 2028 Summer Olympics far away, Hendrickson has already returned to his training room. Now another kind of gold is in his heart – achieved by similar means.

“This was a really big benchmark. It’s what happened. It’s not time to get your feet out of the gas. We’re still doing the work and grinding. I still have a lot of things that can be improved.

For more than that, Hendrixon is not very sure. At the end of his competitive career, he will serve in the Air Force for at least five years. Does that competitive career include MMA? Only time can be seen.

“I think it’s an exciting journey,” Hendrickson said. “Obviously, I respect fighters. They’re very tough. I didn’t have much experience in hand-to-hand combat other than wrestling to make that crossover. I definitely think it needs to develop as a fighter. We’ll see what happens until I’m sure I’m going to dodge some of those big blows.”