OSU National Champion Wyatt Hendrickson Claims Pan Am Championship

The recent Pan Am Championships just show the depth, strength and staying power of the Oklahoma State wrestling program.

Wyatt Hendrickson of the Oklahoma State Cowboys. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Wyatt Hendrickson on wrestled for Oklahoma State for one year. But he continues to make an impact with the Cowboy RTC.

Hendrickson recently claimed a Pan Am Championships title in the 125-kilogram field, which was held recently in Coralville, Iowa. The former NCAA heavyweight champion is wrestling out of the Cowboy RTC, which is the regional training center located in Stillwater, which is part of the U.S. Olympic Regional Training Center system.

The Cowboy RTC had another Pan Am champion, but he didn’t go to Oklahoma State. Zahid Valencia, a former Arizona State wrestler who wrapped his career in 2020, also won a title. He won two NCAA titles and has also won two U.S. titles and three Pan Am titles in his weight class.

Wyatt Hendrickson’s Pan Am Run

Wyatt Hendrickson of the Oklahoma State Cowboys. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Hendrickson rolled through his final three matches at the Pan Am. He needed just 30 seconds to pin and defeat Mexico's Brandon Anguiano Flores. In the semifinals, he defeated Brazil's Gabriel De Sousa Silva, which was a 10-0 victory (Tech 0:53). Then, in the championship match, he needed less than two minutes to pin Canada's Jorawar Dhinsa.

It’s the second major title Hendrickson has won this year. He claimed a U.S. Open title in the spring.

Hendrickson has the potential to produce of the best post-OSU careers in history. He ended his Cowboys career in 2025 with a national championship in the heavyweight division as he beat a U.S. Olympic gold medalist in the final in Minnesota’s Gable Steveson.

That wrapped up a season in which he went 27-0 season with wins over nine All-Americans as he claimed the Dan Hodge Trophy. He was the third Oklahoma State wrestler and the eighth heavyweight to win the award.

Before that, the Newton, Kan., native spent four seasons at Air Force where he went to the NCAA Championships in each of his four seasons.

By working out of the RTC, Hendrickson can keep working with OSU head coach David Taylor, who also coaches the Cowboy RTC and was recently named the 2005 freestyle wrestling coach of the year by USA Wrestling. Hendrickson, Valencia and current OSU star Jax Forrest all earned berths on the 2025 Senior World Team under Taylor’s watch. Valencia won a world title.

Taylor enjoyed a massively successful career as a wrestler at Penn State, where he was a two-time NCAA champion, a two-time Dan Hodge winer and an Olympic gold medalist.