Oklahoma State Cowboys wrestler Wyatt Hendrickson dished on what it meant for his sport that President Donald Trump was in attendance for the national championship over the weekend.
Hendrickson pulled off an historic upset in the 285-pound division over Minnesota’s Gable Steveson. He did it in front of the president and billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk. He appeared on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” and said there was no added pressure for him and the president being in attendance was a testament to how popular wrestling has become.
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President Donald Trump greets Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Hendrickson reacts after he defeated Minnesota’s Gable Steveson during a 285-pound match in the finals of the NCAA wrestling championship, Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
“I think I’ve got enough grasp on the sport that I’m able to kind of take myself out of the situation and wrestle for myself, my family, and my team,” he said. “If you asked me that five years ago, I would have been out there freaking out like ‘Oh my gosh, my boss is watching me’ but I was just really blessed to go out there and wrestle freely so it was a pretty exciting moment when after that match I walked over there and showed him my respect because that’s my boss, man.
“The Commander-in-Chief, President Trump, just the fact that he was there supporting the great sport of wrestling is just an attribute to how awesome a sport this is and it’s growing and I think a lot of people that originally wouldn’t have watched the sport are now maybe looking into it like ‘Oh, what’s going on here.’”
Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Hendrickson celebrates after defeating Minnesota’s Gable Steveson during a 285-pound match in the finals at the NCAA wrestling championship, Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Hendrickson added that he didn’t realize Musk was also going to be in Philadelphia to watch the matches with Trump until he went over to pay his respects to the president.
“One thing I didn’t know, I didn’t know that Elon Musk was there. So that was a surprise, as soon as I went back I was shaking his hand I was like, ‘Oh, what’s up Elon? Good to see you here, too’ so that kind of caught me off guard. That’s pretty cool.”
Hendrickson is a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force.
He had elaborated on his pursuit of a military career earlier in the week on “America’s Newsroom.”
“When I was looking at wrestling in college, I wanted to look at more than just that, what my career is going to look like,” he said. “And I kind of realized I’ve always been super-patriotic, and I have a heart to serve. And so, you know, the Air Force Academy was a pretty easy pick for me. And it’s because of the Air Force, I’m able to be at grad school wrestling at Oklahoma State University.”
Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Hendrickson reacts after defeating Minnesota’s Gable Steveson during a 285-pound match in the finals at the NCAA wrestling championship, Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
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“So, I mean, the opportunities in the Air Force are just limitless. And so this is just part of the steppingstone. I’ll be able to wrestle for a couple of years. I’ll now be able to transition into my job and, you know, be able to serve this great country to the best of my ability.”
Fox News’ Ryan Canfield contributed to this report.
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