Shane Sparks expects Gable Steveson to return to Minnesota but wouldn't be surprised if he went elsewhere

Gable Steveson made a stunning announcement to FloWrestling about his return to college wrestling in 2023-24.

Steveson hasn’t wrestled since the 2022 NCAA Wrestling Championships, his second national title, but returned to earn the 125 KG spot on Team USA for the World Championships this year. The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Gold Medalist was seemingly done with college wrestling but could be back for the Minnesota Golden Gophers this winter.

At least, that’s the assumption. Big Ten Network’s Shane Sparks anticipates Steveson back in maroon and gold, but wouldn’t be stunned to see him elsewhere for one more year.

“I was not surprised in the least, I thought he was coming back last year,” Sparks told On3 about Steveson’s reported return. “I mean, I thought he was coming back. I thought he was coming back then when he walked away, then I didn’t think he was coming back right … But yeah, it’s, I mean, I love watching Gable Steveson, listening to a lot of interviews that he has done and again, we can all change our mind. But I heard a lot of interviews with him talking about how great Minnesota is, the impact Minnesota has had, you can win at Minnesota. So I guess at first I would be a little bit surprised if he went anywhere else.”

At the college level, Steveson finished with 86-2 over the course of four seasons. The 2020 campaign ended prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and he finished third at the 2019 NCAA Tournament.

His only two losses were to Penn State’s Anthony Cassar, the 2019 NCAA and Big Ten champion.

He proved he could win at Minnesota, a program noteworthy for producing great heavyweights like Tony Nelson and Brock Lesnar, among others.

But in the world of the transfer portal and NIL, could Steveson wear a different singlet?

“But at the same time, if I found out Gable Steveson was going to come back and wrestle someplace else would I be surprised? No, not at all,” Sparks said. ”I mean, he’s able to do what he wants to do and see what the reality is, you gotta take care of number one. I mean, it’s just the way it is …

“I do think he comes back. How much we’ll see him? I’m not sure. I hope as a wrestling fan, I hope he comes back. If he does wrestle and he’s in the maroon and gold in Minnesota that’d be great.”