New professional (freestyle) wrestling promotion RAF (Real American Freestyle) held its inaugural event Saturday night in Cleveland, and it ended with a former Cowboy wearing a heavyweight title belt.
Wyatt Hendrickson beat Egypt’s Mostafa Elders 14-1 in the main event, capping the match off with a thunderous takedown.
Heavyweight (Unlimited): Wyatt Hendrickson MAULS 2024 Olympian Mostafa Elders 14-1 to take the win at #RAF01.
Hendrickson looks locked in as he preps for Worlds. pic.twitter.com/unNJWGyAaH
— Saturday Night Lights (@WrestlingSNL) August 31, 2025
After the bout, Hendrickson had a faceoff with Mason Parris, a world bronze medalist, to set up his next match.
Wyatt Hendrickson and Mason Parris faced off after #RAF01 — setting the tone for a heavyweight showdown that will lead into battles for World Teams, RAF belts, and even an Olympic spot in L.A. 2028. pic.twitter.com/DO1jd6zQk0
— Saturday Night Lights (@WrestlingSNL) August 31, 2025
Hendrickson is on a heater. After beating Gable Steveson in the NCAA final in March, Hendrickson won the U.S. Open to secure a spot at Final X and then won his best-of-three series at Final X to earn a spot on the United State World Team.
The new RAF heavyweight champ will wrestle at the Senior World Championships next month in Croatia.
About Elders
Hendrickson’s opponent Saturday night, Elders competed at the Olympics last year for Egypt at 97 kg. To earn that spot in Paris, Elders won the African Games and the Seniors African and Oceania Olympic Qualifier. Elders also competed at the 2023 World Championships.
About Parris
Hendrickson’s next opponent, Parris wrestled collegiately at Michigan. He won a national title for the Wolverines in 2023 (in Tulsa) and took silver in 2021.
Parris won bronze at the 2023 World Championships at 125 kg.
Hamiti Drops Bout with Dake
Dean Hamiti Jr.’s match with Kyle Dake was always going to be tough because, one, Dake is a four-time NCAA champ and four-time world champ, and two, it was up weight for Hamiti.
Dake beat Hamiti 11-0.
The match took place at 190 pounds. Hamiti wrestled at 174 pounds this past college season and wrestled at the U.S. Open and World team Trials at 79 kg (about 174 pounds).
Still, it’s good experience for Hamiti to get a feel for one of the best the U.S. has to offer. And if Hamiti has eyes on competing in the 2028 Olympics, he’d likely need to move up in weight, as the 79 kg weight class isn’t featured at the Olympics. He’d either have to go down to 74 kg (about 163 pounds) or up to 86 kg (about 190 pounds).
Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog.
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