Hendrickson Is Big 12 Wrestler of the Year - Was Taylor Snubbed for Coach Honor?

(Robert Allen of Pokes Report contributed to this story.)

STILLWATER – Oklahoma State heavyweight Wyatt Hendrickson was named Big 12 Wrestler of the Year, the conference announced Friday morning.

He is the first Cowboy to become the league's Wrestler of the Year since Alex Dieringer and Dean Heil in the first two years it was awarded in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

Northern Iowa's Doug Schwab was named Big 12 Coach of the Year, while Terrell Barraclough of Utah Valley garnered Big 12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors.

Interestingly, earlier this week in a press conference with local media, Hendrickson paid homage to his coaching and experience at the Air Force Academy, but sure acknowledged that his first-year head coach at Oklahoma State, former NCAA champion, World Champion, and Olympic Gokld Medal winner David Taylor made a difference. Taylor in his first year led the Cowboys to finishing first in the Big 12 dual standings and the conference championship tournament, not to mention two nationa champions and a team third at the NCAA.

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Hendrickson (left) at the press conference with David Taylor and Dean Hamiti Jr.

“First, shout out to the Air Force and world-class athlete program for allowing me to be here in Stillwater and be able to reach my goals as a national champion and train alongside athletes to work toward being a 2028 Olympic Gold Medalist,” Hendrickson said. “The foundation that was built at the Air Force Academy is a real thing. The time I spent there developing myself as a leader and a warrior that is still stuff I carry with me today and it is ingrained in my wrestling. That foundation with the Magic Man over here (pointing to David Taylor) addin gin some spicy ingredients into it just adds up to a big ball of success.”

In his final collegiate season, Hendrickson compiled a perfect 27-0 record and won the heavyweight national title with a historic upset over Minnesota's top-seeded Gable Steveson, who held an Olympic gold medal, two Hodge trophies, two NCAA titles and was on the brink of a fourth consecutive undefeated season. That victory was preceded by a semifinal win over Penn State's Greg Kerkvliet, the weight's defending national champion.

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Check out the coaches celebrating behind him.

Those two wins were part of Hendrickson's nine total victories over All-Americans throughout the year, a group that's combined for 18 All-American seasons altogether. He scored bonus points 22 times, 13 of which came by fall to put him in a tie for fourth-most in the country. For his efforts, Hendrickson was named a finalist for the Dan Hodge Trophy and the NCAA's Most Dominant Wrestler for the third time in his career, all while facing a 2025 national qualifier in 17 of his 27 matches.

His only decisions came against Steveson, Kerkvliet, Arizona State's Cohlton Schultz and Isaac Trumble of NC State, the respective third- and fourth-place finishers at the 2025 NCAA Championships. Meanwhile, only six of Hendrickson's 27 bouts went the distance, and he allowed just four matches to even reach the third period after the end of the first semester. Within those matches, he produced a takedown ratio of 60:3.

Hendrickson's dominant run through March began at the Big 12 Championships, where he defeated Schultz in the final bout of the tournament to secure his third career conference title and the team championship for Oklahoma State. In Hendrickson's nine postseason matches, six resulted in a pin. He also won Outstanding Wrestler recognition at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, widely considered to be the sport's toughest regular season tournament.