Hendrickson (athlete), Schwab (coach) & Barraclough (scholar-athlete) take home Big 12 Wrestling Yearly Awards

IRVING, Texas – Following historic seasons for their respective programs, NCAA heavyweight champion Wyatt Hendrickson from Oklahoma State, Utah Valley standout Terrell Barraclough and Northern Iowa head coach Doug Schwab headline the Big 12 wrestling award winners.

Big 12 Wrestler of the Year – Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Hendrickson

Hendrickson was voted the Big 12 Wrestler of the Year by the league’s coaches, becoming the first Cowboy to win the award since Dean Heil in 2017. The senior claimed the Conference title in the heavyweight division at the Big 12 Championship earlier this month, which propelled Oklahoma State to the team title for the 20th time in program history.

The Newton, Kansas native went on to pull off a historic upset at the NCAA Championships for the first national title of his career. Hendrickson came from behind in the third period with a takedown to defeat Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson from Minnesota.

Hendrickson is also a finalist for the Hodge Trophy, which recognizes the top wrestler in all of NCAA Division I. He capped his collegiate career with an undefeated 27-0 record this season, including nine wins over current or former All-Americans. In the postseason alone, six of Hendrickson's nine matches resulted in a pin. He was named the NCAA Most Dominant Wrestler for the third time in his career, all while facing a 2025 national qualifier in 17 of his 27 matches.

Big 12 Coach of the Year – Northern Iowa’s Doug Schwab

Schwab was named Big 12 Coach of the Year after guiding the Panthers to a historic season and was voted NWCA Division I Men's National Coach of the Year at the NCAA Championships.

The Panthers posted a 14-1 record this season under Schwab’s leadership, its most wins since the 1990-91 season. The program sent 10 athletes to Philadelphia for the NCAA Championships, which included a national runner-up finish by Parker Keckeisen at 184 pounds and a top-five placement by Cael Happel at 141 pounds.

UNI also claimed Big 12 titles in three different weight classes, which tied the program’s best finish at the Conference Championship. Schwab led the Panthers to a hard-fought runner-up finish to Oklahoma State at the Big 12 Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Northern Iowa was tied with OSU entering the final match of the event, which saw Hendrickson defeat Arizona State’s Cohlton Schultz to give the Cowboys the title.

Big 12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year – Utah Valley’s Terrell Barraclough

Barraclough excelled on and off the mat in his All-American season for the Wolverines. The Kaysville, Utah native finished fifth at the NCAA Championships in the 165-pound division. He reached 30 wins for the season and posted the second-best finish in program history at NCAA’s.

Away from the mat, Barraclough maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average while pursuing his MBA from the prestigious Woodbury School of Business. He becomes the first Utah Valley student-athlete to win the Conference’s top academic honor in wrestling, which was first awarded in 2013.