Gable Steveson pens 3-word message as Gopher Wrestling Club’s Trent Hillger & Hayden Zillmer qualify for Final X

Gable Steveson cheered for the Gopher Wrestling Club wrestlers Trent Hillger and Hayden Zillmer as they marked their domination at the 2025 US World Team Trials. Both wrestlers qualified for the Final X to move close to making the US World team, which will participate in the 2025 World Championships in Croatia.

In 125 kg, Hillger, four-time All-American for the Wisconsin Badgers who now wrestles at the Gopher Wrestling Club dominated over Demetrius Thomas of the New York Athletic Club, winning 10-4 by decision. A fellow Gopher Wrestling club teammate and six-time USA National team member Zillmer went 5-3 against Jonathon Aiello, winning 5-3 by decision in 97 kg.

Steveson, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic gold medallist and former Gopher Wrestling alum shared an enthusiastic three-word reaction on his Instagram story, celebrating Trent Hillger and Hayden Zillmer's run to Final X, Gable Steveson said:

"Yessir let's go!"

Screenshot of Gable Steveson's Instagram story on May 18, 2025 - Source: Instagram@gable

Trent Hillger and Hayden Zillmer will be moving forward to Final X on June 14 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

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Gable Steveson on his farewell to Gopher Wrestling Club

Gable Steveson is a three-time U-17 World Champion and two-time NCAA Division I champion. The five-time All-American has many other well-deserved accolades that describe his illustrious wrestling career, including his dominance in the 125 kg division for the University of Minnesota (Gopher Wrestling).

After half a decade, the wrestler passed on the singlet in March this year. Sharing an emotional farewell note on Instagram, Gable Steveson wrote:

"First, Thank you @gopherwrestling! From a 18 year old kid to now 24 years old (Or 30 years old as some would say lol) When I left in 2022 there was always this itch to give y’all one last go around and I’m glad I could come back and give the University the light that it deserves! We had a generational run and I don’t regret my decision to stay at home to put on for the city again and again!......"

"To my supporters I appreciate all the love through my time in collegiate wrestling. From skipping warmups to staying late after every dual regardless the city to talk to everyone definitely made it worth the time!"

Earlier this year, Gable Steveson suffered one of the biggest upsets of the 2025 NCAA Championship. The second-seeded wrestler from Oklahoma State University, Wyatt Hendrickson, won 5-4 to break the 2020 Tokyo Olympic champion's 70-match winning streak.