Takedown Report

Amateur Wrestling Reports

Hendrickson, Hamiti Win NCAA Titles in Thrilling Upsets

PHILADELPHIA – Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Hendrickson and Dean Hamiti Jr. claimed individual titles at the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships Saturday night as Hendrickson delivered a one of the most shocking upsets in the history of the NCAA tournament with a win over Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson to win the heavyweight title and Hamiti delivered an upset of his own by defeating two-time national champion Keegan O’Toole to take home the crown at 174 pounds.
The Cowboys finished in third place in the team standings with 102.5 points to mark its best finish since 2021 and highest point total since 2017. OSU’s two individual champions mark its most since 2016. “Finishing in third place, that’s pretty special because it’s not an individual thing,” coach David Taylor said. “It’s everybody. Individually, obviously those guys help you win, but you need everybody.”
As the most heavily favored wrestler in the finals, Minnesota’s Steveson entered the title bout already holding an Olympic gold medal, two Hodge Trophies, multiple NCAA titles, needing one more win complete a fourth consecutive undefeated collegiate season and with a cemented record as one of the best collegiate wrestlers ever.
Hendrickson entered with an undefeated record of his own this season, but it was his first time reaching an NCAA final.
In a thrilling match that came down to wire, Steveson scored a takedown in the first and Hendrickson followed with a quick escape and another to start the second to make it, 3-2, Steveson, entering the final period. Steveson escaped to start the third and held a 4-2 lead for a majority of the last frame. With time expiring, however, Hendrickson got to Steveson’s leg and finished a takedown with less than 20 seconds remaining to the most thunderous roar from the crowd in recent memory of the NCAA Championships. He held on in the final second to prevent a match-tying escape and came away with a 5-4 win and the most memorable moment of the 2025 wrestling season.
“I was looking at the clock and I’m squeezing him,” Hendrickson said about riding out the final 18 seconds. “I made up my mind. If he did stand up, I didn’t want to lock my hands. I don’t want to get a locked hands call, but I was squeezing. If he stands up, I’m just going to lock and pick him up and just hold him in the air for the last couple seconds, because I’m, like, ‘I have made it this far,’ and I knew I was going to win this match. I don’t care if I had to rip my arms off squeezing him. I was, like, ‘I’m holding this man down and winning this match.'”
Hamiti also produced some fireworks, upsetting Missouri’s top-seeded, undefeated, five-time All-American and two-time NCAA champion in sudden victory. The wrestlers traded escapes in the final two periods to take a 1-1 tie into overtime. … more at … https://okstate.com/news/2025/3/22/cowboy-wrestling-hendrickson-hamiti-win-ncaa-titles-in-thrilling-upsets
And … https://www.flickr.com/photos/osuathletics/54404269429/in/album-72177720324605018

March 27, 2025 Posted by | Uncategorized | , , | Leave a comment

Stephen Buchanan II Wins NCAA Championship

University of Iowa graduate student Stephen Buchanan II won the 197-pound NCAA Championship on Saturday night, defeating Penn State’s Josh Barr, 5-2.
PHILADELPHIA – University of Iowa graduate student Stephen Buchanan II won the 197-pound NCAA Championship on Saturday night, defeating Penn State’s Josh Barr, 5-2.
Buchanan, the No. 2 seed, used a second-period takedown and a third-period escape, along with a riding time point, to end up on top of the podium.
“You know, you get to the semifinals twice and you get denied by it, and you have to make the journey back the next morning,” Buchanan said. “And you don’t want to wrestle those two matches, but you do, and you pull through. You’re still left with this bittersweet feeling in your stomach, in your mind. You come back the next year and the same thing happens to you.
And you finally get on a new team. And you’re placed around people who will pour into you, who teach you the little things that make the biggest differences. And you get on that stage, and you use the things that they taught you to win, it means the world. I mean, the work that I put in, just the amount of time that people put into me, it means the world.”
The Loyal, Wisconsin, native is the first national champion at 197 pounds in program history since the NCAA implemented the current weight class configuration in 1999. Buchanan’s individual national title is the 86th in program history and the 14th under head coach Tom Brands. “Awesome, love it, can’t say enough,” head coach Tom Brands said. “He’s a grateful guy, so I think he has the right perspective about it for sure. The way it was done is a tribute to a champion. The way that he did it, the way he goes about his daily business is a tribute.” … more at … https://hawkeyesports.com/news/2025/03/23/stephen-buchanan-ii-wins-ncaa-championship

March 27, 2025 Posted by | Uncategorized | | Leave a comment

Gophers Tie for Fifth at NCAA Championships

PHILADELPHIA – Minnesota’s Gable Steveson finished as the national runner-up at heavyweight as the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships concluded Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. In the team standings, Minnesota finished tied for fifth place with 51.5 points. It’s the team’s best placement under head coach Brandon Eggum and is the best since a runner-up finish in 2014. Overall, it’s the 19th top-five finish in program history. 
Penn State won the team title with 177.0 points, followed by Nebraska (117.0), Oklahoma State (102.5) and Iowa (81.0).
Facing the second-seeded Wyatt Hendrickson of Oklahoma State, Steveson recorded the first takedown of the match and led 3-1 after one period. An escape from Hendrickson in the second period made it a 3-2 match going to the third. Starting on bottom, Steveson escaped to lead 4-2 but Hendrickson became the first opponent to take Steveson down all season when he did so with 18 seconds left for a 5-4 victory. It was Steveson’s first loss since the semifinals of the 2019 NCAA Championships, a streak of 70 consecutive matches that was the second longest in program history.
In his three other trips to the NCAA Championships Steveson won national titles in 2021 and 2022 and placed third in 2019 making him the only Gopher in program history to tally four top-three finishes. Steveson ends his career with just about every accolade one can accumulate. In addition to being one of six multi-time national champions in Minnesota history, he’s also a two-time winner of the Hodge Trophy, the first five-time All-American for the Golden Gophers and the first heavyweight at any school to win four Big Ten titles. 
He boasts the best winning percentage in Gophers history with an 103-3 career record (.972), including a perfect 59-0 mark in dual competition and a 44-0 tally in Big Ten matches. Of his 104 career wins, the Apple Valley, Minn., native recorded 16 pins, 32 tech falls and 28 major decisions. … more at … https://gophersports.com/news/2025/3/22/wrestling-gophers-tie-for-fifth-at-ncaa-championships

March 27, 2025 Posted by | Uncategorized | , , | Leave a comment