The Hodge Trophy is considered the Heisman Trophy for amateur wrestling and has been presented to the nation's best wrestler since 1995. This year, both Iowa's Spencer Lee and Minnesota's Gable Steveson were awarded the 2021 Hodge Trophy.
There was only one other time in the trophy's illustrious history where there has been co-winners. In 2001, Nick Ackerman (174 pounds at Simpson College) and Cael Sanderson (184 pounds at Iowa State) shared the award.
While both Lee (125 pounds) and Steveson (Heavyweight) were equally qualified Hodge hopefuls in their own right, awarding co-winners in 2021 was the wrong decision. Here is why:
Of the list of finalists, few would disagree that Lee and Steveson were the two most worthy candidates when looking at the seven criteria used to determine a winner:
- Record
- Number of pins
- Dominance
- Past credentials
- Quality of competition
- Sportsmanship/Citizenship
- Heart
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All six of the finalists were undefeated NCAA national champions at their respective weights in 2021.
However, Lee begins to separate himself from the rest of the field with criteria No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4. The Iowa Hawkeye has the most pins, with five, just one ahead of Steveson.
Concerning dominance, Lee also possesses the highest bonus-point winning rate of the finalists (91.7%). Again, Steveson isn't far behind, winning 88.2% of his matches by the bonus-point variety.
For past credentials, Lee is far ahead of the entire field. The former Franklin Regional prep is the only three-time NCAA champ and former Hodge winner among the six finalists. Lee also has a prestigious AAU Sullivan Award on his resume. The Sullivan, which Lee was a co-winner of in 2020, is awarded annually in April to "the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States." Now, whether or not this past credentials criteria creates an unfair advantage in its own right, that's a question for another day.
In terms of criteria No. 4, the edge likely goes to Steveson (285) or Carr (157). An argument can be made that both the 285-pound and 157-pound weight classes (and others) had deeper, more talented fields this season than the 125-pound class. In 2021, some additional depth at 125 pounds was lost when the Ivy League institutions elected not to take the mat due to COVID-related concerns.
Lastly, regarding the Sportsmanship and Heart criterion, all the finalists check both boxes. That said, it was likely hard to vote against Lee after he recently divulged that he wrestled the 2021 national tournament and won a title on a recently torn anterior cruciate ligament. Again, these are highly subjective criteria.
Following the above rationale, data points, and measurables, I could have accepted the either Lee or Steveson were the rightful 2021 Hodge Trophy winners. Both had compelling cases.
However, I vehemently disagree with the decision to name Lee and Steveson co-winners. I say this because it would indicate that the votes tell a slightly different story than an authentic even-even tie.
In the official release anointing Lee and Steveson as the 2021 winners, Bryan Van Kley of WIN Magazine said the following:
"For the first time since 2001, there are co-winners of the WIN Magazine/Culture House Dan Hodge Trophy, presented by ASICS Wrestling.
Last season's winner Spencer Lee of Iowa and Gable Steveson of Minnesota wound up in a virtual tie, with Lee winning the Fan Vote (25,712 to Steveson's 5,202 votes), but multiple members of the formal Hodge Trophy Voting Committee voting for co-winners with both Steveson and Lee having such similar Hodge Trophy voting criteria stats."
Award creator, Mike Chapman, had the following to say in the same release:
"We have had fairly tight races before but nothing like this year," Chapman said. "It's an amazing year in so many respects. When you look at what COVID did, cutting the season at least in half and causing such chaos, it was a very difficult season for everyone."
The Hodge Voting Committee is made up of all past winners of the award, several retired college coaches from each region of the country, and select national wrestling media.
Ben Askren, who is on the Hodge Voting Committee as a former two-time Hodge Trophy recipient himself, has voiced his displeasure with the 2021 Hodge Trophy tie numerous times on Flo Radio Live in recent weeks. I share his frustration.
He took his displeasure a step further when he requested to see this year's voting results, which were not released in full to the general public. WIN Magazine ultimately complied with Askren's request.
While Askren kept the findings confidential, he did reveal that it was not an actual 50-50 tie. He stated that while the votes were close, they were not identical. There was one winner.
With that, I ask, what is the point of voting?
It would appear that, in 2021, the folks at WIN Magazine used their authority to override the fan and committee vote. As a result, two Hodge's were awarded rather than one.
Making this executive decision is a bad look for the sport. Having WIN Magazine exercise a veto power of sorts ultimately de-legitimizes the hard work of all the 2021 finalists, previous winners, and the voting committee as a whole.
By its very nature, choosing a single individual to be "the best" is tricky.
The voting for such a heralded award should be close. And unfortunately, some talented athletes have to lose no matter how remarkable their season was. That just the nature of individual accolades.
Moving forward, I hope this does not create a precedent where every time there is a very close call between two Hodge finalists, WIN Magazine awards it to both.
As people often compare, the Hodge Trophy is equivalent to the Heisman Trophy of college football. Well, since 1937, when the inaugural Heisman winner was chosen, there has never been a co-Heisman's after a season.
So why should we ever award co-Hodge's unless it is a proper 50-50 tie?
As the phrasing indicates, the 2021 Hodge race was not a tie but an exceptionally close race between two worthy and deserving candidates.
Truth be told, if feels as if one man earned a participatory Hodge Trophy and the other man earned the real Hodge Trophy. We just don't know which is which?
Spencer Lee, Gable Steveson, and our entire sport deserve better than that.
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