What's next for Gable?

[bnwtwg]

He previously said he rapidly jumped all the way up to over 300 pounds. He dominated this college season, right up until Gable Dan got Dan Gable'd. His spare tire is noticeable, and he was the MOW favorite this weekend right up until he was upset. It's the million dollar questions all season: is he taking it serious, and is he getting in shape or is he just coasting?

I am a huge Hendrickson supporter as has been noted many times, and also a Steveson Eye Test guy. I was wrong when I thought Steveson would cruise. So very, very wrong. The Taylor effect is real when Hendrickson had already nearly teched Parris and is taking leaps.

So the question is what happens next? US Open is just around the corner, WTT after, and Final X this summer. Does Gable get serious and regain his place domestically as a first step? Is Hendrickson gapping him? Where does Parris fall into all of this? Is Kerk going to recover from yet another tear to disrupt the brackets during this quad?

Even I thought these questions foolish considering Steveson's senior run on minimal training, but now it's real. Shiit has officially hit the fan.

[wrestle87]

We can say all we want.  I rooted for captain america super hard.

It was very cool of Steveson to actively encourage the crowd to cheer for hendrickson while they were on the awards stand.  That is something his namesake is incapable of to this day.  

Imperfect, heel, what have you, he showed class and grace towards hendrickson in that moment, which was a big thing to do.

[skandar]

Who knows, but seeing as this is the international forum I don’t think that loss really means anything as to where he stands in freestyle right now. He got out folkstyled. That was a tech in free.

[dragit]

When Dan/Gable lost the biggest upset of the 20th century, he used it to fuel the most dominant Olympics ever.  Or to be more precise, I guess he felt sorry, moped around, drank a lot of beer, then his mom whacked him upside the head, and he then used the loss to fuel the most dominant Olympics ever.

Gable/Dan can and will do the same thing, but only if he's got the interest for it to fuel him.  If he does, I don't think that Captain America and David Taylor or anyone else, including any Iranians or Russians, are going to keep him from any gold medals.  

But Gable/Dan is a much different guy than Dan/Gable.  He isn't as obsessed with wrestling as his namesake.  In fact, he may be the least obsessed with wrestling of all of the 330 guys in the brackets this weekend.  

My view is that he's best off committing to wrestling.  He's better at this than he is or will be at anything else, he's healthy largely because he's not obsessed with the sport, he's the best in the world when he's engaged, he'll do as well or better financially as he could in anything else in life, and he won't get punched in the face (which I doubt he has the personality for) or be subject to a capitalist making capitalist decisions about his marketability (which didn't work out for him last time). 

But I think the odds he'll go this route with full commitment are no better than 50/50.  Sadly.

[Ragu]

Gosh I hope he becomes our rep for the next near decade

[billyhoyle]

Golf

[CHROMEBIRD]

I actually think Steveson is more likely to stick with wrestling now than if he had cruised to a title. He's going through some serious FAFO right now and, if he's serious about all that "my legacy" stuff, will want to prove himself on the biggest stage and go out on a high note. I think we'll see him wrestling at WTT with a chip on his shoulder. 

One caveat, it's unclear what Pindrickson's plans are. I thought his AF service deferral was just for this one season of eligibility. Will he be able to continue wrestling at the Senior level?

[pawrestler]

4 minutes ago, CHROMEBIRD said:

I actually think Steveson is more likely to stick with wrestling now than if he had cruised to a title. He's going through some serious FAFO right now and, if he's serious about all that "my legacy" stuff, will want to prove himself on the biggest stage and go out on a high note. I think we'll see him wrestling at WTT with a chip on his shoulder. 

One caveat, it's unclear what Pindrickson's plans are. I thought his AF service deferral was just for this one season of eligibility. Will he be able to continue wrestling at the Senior level?

I think I heard he can defer and stay at CWC through 2028

[de4856]

Well my belief is that he will try and make the World Team, because I don’t know what else there is for him right now. WWE, and Football didn’t work out so I think he returned to wrestling to find success and support. I guess he could try MMA, but I haven’t heard anything about him wanting to give that a go. 
As far as who will be our rep for 125 KG this year, I would’ve have picked Gable all day before last night. But now I am not so sure. 

[hoosierdj]

Wrt Hendrickson, he may be able to continue in the Air Force’s World Class Athlete program.  All services have one, and beating an Olympic Gold Medalist might help with that. Since Naval Academy grad David Robinson, the services have continued to improve opportunities for service members to pursue athletic endeavors. Very good for recruiting. Almost as good as Top Gun has been for Naval Aviation.  

Edited Sunday at 10:55 PM by hoosierdj

[CHROMEBIRD]

Thanks for that info. WCAP is what allowed Matt Brown to compete in freestyle while he was an Army Ranger or something like that, isn't it? I am sure Hendrickson will get in if he wants it.

Also @de4856 brings up a good point about Gable. This season was supposed to raise his stock for MMA and other opportunities. Some of that may have fizzled after last night's loss. Might as well stick with what he does best and wrestle.

[bnwtwg]

Hendrickson has been confirmed as being in WCAP and will return to active duty upon completion of the 2028 olympic quad. He will remain in Stillwater until that time.

[CHROMEBIRD]

On 3/24/2025 at 7:02 AM, bnwtwg said:

Hendrickson has been confirmed as being in WCAP and will return to active duty upon completion of the 2028 olympic quad. He will remain in Stillwater until that time.

This might be old info, but after he transferred Hendrickson mentioned in an interview that he's good on his military assignment deferral until 2027. I assume participating in WCAP changes that?

https://www.ocolly.com/sports/wrestling/why-wyatt-hendrickson-chose-to-transfer-to-osu-with-military-service-looming/article_14af47e6-91b8-11ef-9c4e-cb142e119162.html

Hendrickson still has a five-year commitment to uphold. His “military clock” does not commence when he is wrestling. And while it is common for military academy scholars to go to grad school, as Hendrickson noted, it is not as common for them to seek a new school for athletics amid impending military service. “As long as I am wrestling, the clock does not start,” Hendrickson said. “So, I’m planning on wrestling for four years — one in college and then three years at the Regional Training Center, the RTC."