Former Air Force heavyweight Wyatt Hendrickson commits to Oklahoma State

Former Air Force heavyweight Wyatt Hendrickson committed to Oklahoma State, according to his Instagram page.

He had one year of eligibility left due to the 2021 COVID season. Hendrickson was granted special permission to pursue a graduate year before his military service.

“Excited to bring my wrestling career to Stillwater! LETS RIDE!!!!!,” Hendrickson wrote on Instagram.

Over the course of four seasons at Air Force, Hendrickson went 96-11 and was a two-time All-American, finishing third the last two seasons.

Hendrickson lost only two matches each of the last two seasons. He fell 13-7 to Michigan’s Lucas Davison, who was an NCAA finalist in 2024. He also lost to Iowa State’s Yonger Bastida in the Big 12 finals.

In 2023, Hendrickson lost to eventual national champion Mason Parris (Michigan) and Penn State’s Greg Kerkvliet, the ’23 runner up and ’24 champion.

Hendrickson visited Oklahoma State, Minnesota and Michigan and canceled a fourth transfer visit during the process

Going into the process, Hendrickson said he had a lot of respect for Air Force and vice versa. Since he was not allowed to wrestle a grad year at the service academy, the relationship between the team and Hendrickson was never strained, like some other cases of athletes going into the portal.

“I’m just excited,” Hendrickson said on the Baschamania Podcast. “The fact that I get this opportunity is just, it’s really unimaginable and the people at the, you know, my family and my friends, the whole Air Force Academy, the whole support staff has just been nothing but awesome to be doing this whole process.

“It’s really different because, you know, sometimes when you’re in the transfer portal, it’s not the best relationship with your team. Under my circumstances, it’s awesome because if I had another year to wrestle here, there’s no question, I’m gonna stay here and represent the Air Force. But, you know, I can’t.”

But now, Hendrickson will get one more opportunity to win a national title at the collegiate level before he pursues what’s next. But he won’t forget his wrestling roots at the service academy.

“Everyone’s been just super helpful and helping me find the best fit,” Hendrickson said. “And just, you know me like, ‘Hey, this is my home and that’s never going to change.’ So just shout out to all of them. Especially my mom and dad. They’ve been super excited about this. 

“And my little sister Gracie, she’s just like, ‘there’s no way you’re gonna go wrestle again.’ I get to be at a civilian school for a little bit. So hopefully I have a lot of time on my hands. I’m excited.”