Team USA will have a new heavyweight in Zagreb, Croatia at the 2025 World Championships, as neither Final X competitor at 125kg as made a senior world team before. The question is, who will be making their maiden world team voyage, Wyatt Hendrickson or Trent Hillger?

Wyatt Hendrickson Stats

Hometown: Newton, KS

College: Air Force (2021-24), Oklahoma State (2025)

NCAA finishes: round of 12, round of 16, 3rd, 3rd, 1st

Presidential salutes on the NCAA finals mat: 1

Career record: 123-11

Year of graduation: 2025 

Pan-Am medals: 1 gold

Age level world teams: 2

Age level world medals: 1 gold (U23)

FloNationals placements: 1st (2019)

Trent Hillger Stats

Hometown: Holly, MI

College: Wisconsin

NCAA finishes: 8th, 6th, round of 24, 8th

Career record: 93-41

Year of graduation: 2023

Bill Farrell championships: 1 (2024)

Nickname: Thor

Hammer of choice: Mjolner 

Previous Meetings

These titans have clashed twice before. Hendrickson defeated Hiller by the score of 10-4 in the US Open semifinals last April. They also met at the 2021 NCAA Championships, where it was Hillger besting Hendrickson 6-3. 

Watch Hendrickson vs Hillger at the 2025 Open:

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How They Got To Final X

Wyatt Hendrickson blitzed the field at the 2025 US Open, winning all four matches with double-digit points in all four. His bout versus Hillger was the toughest of the tourney for the Air Force officer, who tech-falled his other three opponents, including Demetrius Thomas in the finals. 

Trent Hillger bounced back from his fifth-place finish at the Open -- where he also lost to Hayden Zillmer in the consolation semifinals -- and won the Team Trials. It was a small field and Hillger only had two bouts, partly due to Zillmer dropping down to 97kg for the Trials. Hillger won them both, 13-2 over Jordan Wood and 10-4 over the aforementioned Thomas. 

Watch Hillger punch his ticket to Final X:

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The Storyline

It's a new era of heavyweights for Team USA. Two-time world medalist Nick Gwiazdowski has not competed since the Olympic team trials. Neither has Paris Olympian and world bronze medalist Mason Parris. Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson returned to the mat for the 2024-25 NCAA season but has not wrestled freestyle since Final X in 2023. The 2022 Team USA 125kg rep, Hayden Zillmer, has, as mentioned, dropped to 97kg (where he made this year's Final X). 

But despite several doors being shut within the domestic heavyweight field, a window for Hendrickson and Hillger has been opened. Both competitors will be at the first Final X. That accomplishment puts them both on the National Team, with the winner making the world team. 

The closest Hendrickson has gotten to a World or Olympic team in the past was when he finished fourth at the 2023 Senior World Team Trials Challenge Tournament. Hillger's best finish at a senior-level national event was fourth at 2020's Senior Nationals, which was a qualifying tournament for the Tokyo Olympic Team Trials. 

The Matchup

Few wrestlers in the country can claim to be on a hotter streak right now than Wyatt Hendrickson. The dynamic heavy shocked the wrestling world with his victory over Gable Steveson at the 2025 NCAAs. A well-deserved Hodge Trophy ensued. 

Watch Hendrickson's famous NCAA final: 

The Kansas native has been leveling up since he first arrived at Colorado Springs and started for the Air Force Falcons back in 2021. His time at Oklahoma State has helped him refine his aggressive style which often results in pinfalls over his opponents. Hendrickson has a particularly effective cradle for the 125kg weight class. 

Trent Hillger has similarly enjoyed the benefits of a change of scenery, moving from Wisconsin, where he completed an exemplary career for the Badgers, to Minnesota, where he has been training in one of the most accomplished heavyweight wrestling rooms in the country. Having the likes of Hayden Zillmer and Gable Steveson (among others) as practice partners certainly doesn't hurt. 

While Hillger may not be as flashy as Hendrickson, if he can weather the first-period storm that Wyatt is expected to bring, he may be able to find a way to reverse the result from their meeting at the Open. 

Prediction

Hendrickson is the undeniable favorite, by dint of their recent meeting and the impressive hit list he's been amassing over the last year or so. 

Hillger has proven he can still adapt and improve at this stage of his career, however, and an upset is not out of the question. 

Ultimately, I can't see this series going any other way but Hendrickson's. I think it will be a 2-0 series victory, but I'll say Hillger limits Great American Heavyweight to regular decisions. Either way, we'll find out who Team USA's new heavyweight rep will be when this is settled in the Prudential Center June 14!