Pictured: Minnesota 2021 NCAA champ and 2020 Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson (285). Image courtesy of Minnesota Wrestling.
Most major collegiate and professional sports have some end-of-year awards given to the best player in the sport that season. Sure, the individual namesakes of these various awards are different, but they are all used to connote that Athlete X was better than the rest.
These awards' candidates and eventual winners are often heavily discussed, scrutinized, and ridiculed. Every candidate will have their statistics and achievements valued or demeaned. Every year, these are highly debated topics because they are inherently subjective awards. Many times, there is no definitive winner.
NCAA Division I wrestling is not immune to these discussions, debates, and sometimes even arguments about the rightful winner of the Hodge Trophy.
Having said that, what better time than right now, less than a month from post-season wrestling, to start that discussion for who is most deserving of the 2022 Dan Hodge Trophy.
Before discussing candidates and the various statistical merits that each student-athlete possesses that may entitle them to Hodge Trophy consideration, let us remind what the award represents and what criteria factor into this vote.
The Dan Hodge Trophy is: Per W.I.N. Magazine, "The W.I.N. Magazine/Culture House Dan Hodge Trophy, presented by ASICS, is considered the Heisman Trophy for amateur wrestling and has been presented to the nation's best wrestler since 1995. Created by W.I.N. founder Mike Chapman, the award is named after the former three-time University of Oklahoma national champion (1955-57) who never allowed a takedown in his college career. He also pinned 36 of his 46 victims."
Click here to see a list of the All-Time Dan Hodge Trophy Winners.
The Criteria: The trophy is awarded based on seven criteria; they are as follows:
1. Record
2. Number of pins
3. Dominance
4. Past credentials
5. Quality of competition
6. Sportsmanship/Citizenship
7. Heart
Regardless of who is awarded the top honor in NCAA Division I wrestling in a couple of months, let's hope there are no not co-Hodge winners as was the case in 2021. Doing so only sets a bad precedent.
Final thoughts: Admittedly, the 2022 Hodge Trophy debate seems to be a bit of an open-and-shut case favoring Minnesota heavyweight, Gable Steveson. Here's why:
After everything he has accomplished within the last calendar year on the mats – both domestically and internationally – Gable has proven to be a generational talent – even before age 22.
So far, Gable has an NCAA title, a Hodge Trophy, a 2020 Olympic gold medal, and more on his resume. Not surprisingly, he is well on his way to a second straight NCAA title and a second straight Hodge Trophy.
This season, the Golden Gopher is a perfect 9-0 (with six wins against guys currently ranked in the TOM top-20), and has a 100% bonus-rate. Quite frankly, Gable has looked as if he is a man among boys.
Assuming Gable runs through Big Tens and NCAAs with the same level of dominance he has, I see no way he losses college wrestling's biggest honor.
By season's end, Gable will presumably be a Big Ten champ, NCAA champ, with a record close to (or beyond) 20-0, and a bonus-rate in the 90s or even 100%. Should that come to fruition, Gable can't lose.
Note: All statistics are courtesy of WrestleStat. Also, forfeits were not omitted from the overall records.
The Open Mat's 2022 Dan Hodge Trophy Rankings
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