Over the last ten days, Minnesota heavyweight Gable Steveson has earned the two highest individual honors college wrestling has to offer: A national title and a Hodge Trophy.
Having done that, Steveson announced via Twitter that he is still weighing his options as it relates to a return to the mat for the Golden Gophers during the 2022 NCAA season.
https://twitter.com/GSteveson/status/1376977195856445443
Steveson recently completed his second straight unbeaten season with his first NCAA heavyweight title on Saturday, March 20, in St. Louis. His road to the title included a 16-6 major decision against No. 5 Tony Cassioppi of Iowa in the semifinals and an 8-4 decision in the finals against No. 2 Mason Parris of Michigan.
Over his collegiate career, the Apple Valley, Minnesota native Steveson is a three-time All-American and the reigning two-time Big Ten Champion. He has a 67-2 career record and has not lost since the semifinals of the 2019 NCAA Championships. Steveson finished 2021 on a 34-match win streak and owns the 10th- and 14th-longest streaks in school history (34 & 30).
This weekend, Steveson will head to Fort Worth, Texas, for this weekend's U.S. Olympic Trials. He will is joined by former Gophers Mitch McKee, Tony Nelson, Brett Pfarr, Sean Russell, and Zach Sanders.
While it remains to be seen if Stevenson has worn the Minnesota singlet for the last time, his coach, Bradon Eggum, would undoubtedly welcome Steveson back next season.
"Gable is special," Eggum said to GopherSports.com earlier this week. "He's very hard to wrestle because he is always on offense, always ready to change levels, and has a variety of moves from the feet. He does all the little things right in his training, with his nutrition and weight training and things like that."
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