David Taylor on Wyatt Hendrickson beating Gable Steveson: 'You gotta believe'

David Taylor mapped out a plan for Wyatt Hendrickson when he decided to spend his final collegiate season at Oklahoma State, It was to have his best national tournament.

And boy, did Hendrickson have one heck of a weekend. The Cowboys heavyweight stunned two-time champion and 2021 Olympic Gold Medalist Gable Steveson (Minnesota) 5-4 in the final match of the night.

Taylor almost couldn’t believe what he saw from the coaches corner. But it was a plan a year in the making that saw Hendrickson overcome two foes who have had his number.

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“That was one of the greatest matches I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” Taylor said. “That’s almost like, surreal in the corner to think they ‘We have a chance here, right? We got a chance here.’ And Wyatt came over (and I said) ‘go get it.’ you know? (Think about Dean Hamiti) beating two separate national champions to win, right? Wyatt beating two separate national champions to win. I think that’s our staff, all of everybody in our program and the things that we’re trying to do.”

Hendrickson beat defending champion Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) in the semis before knocking off Steveson. Trailed 4-2 with 40 seconds left, Hendrickson finally got in on a shot and managed to battle through Steveson’s sprawl to take him down.

“I just think this is a sport where, you know, everyone’s got a chance,” Taylor said. “You just gotta believe. You gotta believe, you know? I mean, it’s easy to get caught up in what you can’t do it. Honestly, not one time this year he talked about when he got there, you know, it was just, let’s just become a better wrestler … He was great, but he was pretty sloppy, made a lot of mistakes, you know, that’s what cost him in these tournaments. I told him to get here. I said, I have a plan for you … And I think this whole year, I mean, he bought into that, and I think that’s a big deal for them.” 

The improvements were astounding for Hendrickson. As Taylor noted, as an Olympic Gold medalist himself, couldn’t even keep up anymore.

“This summer, when I was training I was able to wrestle, and back then I could still wrestle a little bit, you know, And then, you know, he got in shape,” Taylor said. “And he cleaned things up and you get a 260 pound guy like that that’s motivated, with that kind of athleticism, (with that technique) … Anything can be possible.”