Wyatt Hendrickson, the 285 lbs NCAA champion, recently shared his thoughts on Oklahoma State Cowboys head coach, David Taylor. Hendrickson joined the Cowboys program for his fifth collegiate year, taking a transfer from the Air Force Falcons.
In his first year at the Cowboys program, Hendrickson got his hands on gold at the 2025 NCAA Championships, defeating 2020 Olympic medalist Gable Steveson in the final of the 285 lbs category. Following this, in a recent press conference for OSU, he revealed the type of conversation he had with the head coach of the program, Taylor, in his initial days.
"We talk about trust, I remember when I first came into Oklahoma State, coach Taylor, he's like I will make you a national champion and I trusted him from day one in the practice room, I was kind of jokingly do this but not jokingly do it everything like coach Taylor did I was doing because he's walked the walk. I was like walking the way he's doing his stance, the way he jumps his back, what kind of water he drinks, how much he sleeps like anything he did, I was copying it," Hendrickson said (2:16)
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David Taylor had also showered immense praise on Hendrickson's belief system after the latter won the 285 lb title at the 2025 NCAA Championships.
David Taylor shares his take on coaching a successful program like the Oklahoma State Cowboys
David Taylor recently opened up about the pressure associated with coaching Oklahoma State, which has been the most successful program in NCAA history with 34 titles to their name.
Taylor remarked that he sees this as an opportunity to create a culture where his wrestlers can compete freely. He also added that this culture would build up to a phase where they can win team NCAA titles. Taylor said (via ESPN MMA, 612 onwards):
"I don't look it as pressure, I look it as opportunity, you're trying to serve your athletes the best you can. So, just trying to creat a culture and environment for guys to feel they can go and compete at the highest level and in doing so we're going to get back to an individual and team natioal champion."
During the conversation, David Taylor also mentioned that he received some advice from the previous coach of OSU, John Smith while joining the program that helped him a lot in his assignment.
