When Gable Steveson delivered a takedown over NCAA All-American Taye Ghadiali, he flexed his muscles toward the ground and yelled to the crowd.

The collective cheers were emphatic of the excitement around the marquee matches featuring Gable Steveson in Minneapolis this season.

Steveson’s Maturi Pavilion wrestling hiatus saw him at the 2022 NCAA wrestling championships, Tokyo Olympics, WWE and Buffalo Bills before returning to Gophers wrestling. Now with one season of NCAA eligibility left, the 285-pound wrestler wants to turn Minnesota wrestling back into a national powerhouse.

“Hopefully this is a spark for us,” Steveson said. 

Among the people watching Steveson in his homecoming were members of the Gophers volleyball team and for a brief moment, a handful of Gophers cheerleaders hung around before they left to cheer on the Gophers women’s basketball team.

@gophercheer When coach says it’s time to warmup but Gable Steveson is back #hygc #minnesota #gophercheer #cheerleading #gophers #fyp #wrestling ♬ original sound – Netflix

Steveson was the first wrestler to take the mat on Sunday afternoon. He defeated Ghadiali, putting on a show for his home-state crowd. 

Steveson served up eight minutes of wrestling with a side of showmanship to the community. He defeated Ghadiali before pulling down on his singlet to show off the block M to the crowd.

“Wrestling is not an emotional sport,” Steveson said. “When you see Gable you can expect something nice.”

Steveson wrestles in the heavyweight class and starting matches with the big guys is not traditional for NCAA wrestling, which usually starts with the 125 class. But when Campbell head coach Scotti Sentes received the weigh-ins for Sunday’s match, he elected to use his pregame coin toss, won, and made the decision to start with the heavyweights.

Gophers head coach Brandon Eggum hypothesized that it was because Sentes did not want Ghadiali to see nine guys go down and then have to wrestle an Olympic gold medalist. Even with the early start for Steveson, he nor his team failed to dominate the match as they shut out Campbell, 39-0.

The Gophers boasted two NCAA All-Americans last season in Vance VomBaur and Isaiah Salazar and will look to get Steveson there this season as well. The team already posted three wins against Division I wrestling schools this season.

When Steveson was not on the mat, he sat near Eggum and joined his teammates as they corner-coached each other.

“You get a lot of momentum when you hear things from your peers,” Eggum said. “Getting that type of peer pressure to go out and score points is what I think he’s trying to instill in them.”

When Vance VomBaur defeated Campbell’s Shannon Hanna, Steveson shot up from his seat and started doing the “Bring the Boom” dance, a move popularized by TikTok stars Big Justice and A.J.

When the season ends, Steveson’s wrestling career will not. The former Apple Valley High School wrestler has plans to train and win another gold medal at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. But for now, his focus is to wrestle for the maroon and gold and give back.

The wrestling started on Friday against North Dakota State for Steveson and giving back started immediately following Sunday’s match when he signed autographs for fans.

Fans will not see Steveson wrestle in Minnesota until the Gophers host Michigan on Jan. 19, 2025.