Two-time All-American Wyatt Hendrickson set to return to college wrestling after receiving clearance from the United States Air Force

Air Force Academy’s two-time heavyweight All-American Wyatt Hendrickson is set to compete in college wrestling next season after receiving clearance from the AFA over his extra-year eligibility. The Kansas native has now entered the transfer portal and hopes to land a school soon.

Hendrickson has been dominant in the last three seasons of college wrestling. He notched up 84 victories in 90 matches, and 53 of them came by fall. During his tenure at Falcons, Hendrickson secured third positions in NCAA Wrestling Championships twice, winning a U23 World title.

The 2024 All-American had exhausted his four years of collegiate career eligibility at the Air Force Academy. He, however, wanted to return for a fifth year to use his extra COVID season eligibility but needed approval from the United States Air Force. And he has got it.

Flowrestling announced on X (formerly Twitter) that Wyatt Hendrickson had received the clearance from the Air Force, and had entered the transfer portal as well to look for a new team.

Later, Air Force Academy coach, Sam Barber, confirmed the news in an interview with the media organization.

“He needed official Air Force approval to be able to compete,” Barber FloWrestling. “There’s a couple different pathways available to him. He’s still kind of working through those things with exactly what it’s going to be. But he has the official Air Force approval to compete."

Barber also added that Hendrickson had entered the transfer portal with a ‘do not contact’ designation. The 4x NCAA qualifier has already short-listed 'five to six schools' from the transfer portal where he aims to compete in the next season.

Wyatt Hendrickson's performance at NCAA Wrestling Championships 2024

Wyatt Hendrickson faced Ohio State's one of the most fearsome wrestlers Nick Feldman in the opening round of NCAA Wrestling Championships 2024. The heavyweight dominated Feldman throughout the match before eventually being handed the win with a major decision, 14-5.

Hendrickson moved to the quarterfinals and beat Zach Elam of Missouri by an 8-1 decision. The two met again in the third-place bout, and the Falcon dominated Elam yet again. He scored three takedowns to win another bout dominantly by a major decision of 14-2.

It was the second time Wyatt Hendrickson received the All-American honor as his collegiate career ended at Air Force Academy. He also became the Big 12 Champion twice while securing the qualification for the NCAA Championship in all of his four years at the academy.