There’s no bigger individual prize in college wrestling than the Hodge Trophy. Every year, fans, coaches, and wrestlers alike anxiously await the announcement, debating who stood tallest on the national stage. But this time around, it’s not just about dominance—it’s about legacy, history, and the numbers that might just tip the scale.
While Penn State has long been a powerhouse in the Hodge conversation, this season’s battle includes a returning heavyweight juggernaut with a Cinderella storyline. And with the winner set to be revealed on March 31, the countdown is officially on.
Inside the 2025 Hodge Trophy race
This year’s finalists have put together unreal seasons, each with an unblemished record and plenty of hardware to back it up. For Penn State, Carter Starocci closed out his NCAA career with a history-making fifth national title, going 26-0 this season with a staggering 84.6% bonus-point rate. His dominance across weight classes—moving from 174 to 184 for his final year—cements him as one of the all-time greats in college wrestling.
Meanwhile, Mitchell Mesenbrink, also from Penn State, has numbers that leap off the page. The sophomore finished his season 27-0, with 18 of those wins coming by tech fall—the highest count in the nation. His bonus-point rate? A jaw-dropping 88.9%. Already a two-time Big Ten champ, Mesenbrink made a massive leap from runner-up as a freshman to champion at 165 this season.
Two Penn State wrestlers are among the three finalists for the Hodge Trophy https://t.co/vkTK8703NL
— StateCollege.com (@StateCollegecom) March 25, 2025
Then there’s Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Hendrickson, who closed his final season with a thunderous upset over Gable Steveson in the heavyweight final. Hendrickson went 27-0, with 13 pins and eight tech falls, good for an 81.5% bonus rate. Not only did he finally break through on the national stage, but he did it by taking down one of the most dominant forces the sport has seen. If there’s a moment that screams “Hodge-worthy,” that might be it.
Legacy, history & every Hodge winner so far
Since the award’s creation in 1995, the Hodge has celebrated the most dominant wrestler each season—and often the names that have gone on to define entire eras of NCAA wrestling. Penn State alone has produced seven winners: Kerry McCoy, David Taylor (twice), Zain Retherford (twice), Bo Nickal, and Aaron Brooks. This year, they’re poised to potentially add an eighth and ninth.
But Hendrickson’s story has echoes of other greats too—like Steve Mocco and Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State—who both stormed their way to Hodge glory. And if voters look back at history, they’ll remember that the Hodge hasn’t always been about going undefeated. Nick Ackerman won in 2001 despite a loss, and Emmett Willson of NAIA’s Montana State-Northern took the prize with a 50-0 record in 2004, proving that greatness can come from anywhere.
The criteria—record, bonus rate, quality of competition, past achievements, and even sportsmanship—make this award as much about consistency as it is about dominance. The decision isn’t just about this season’s numbers, but about how those numbers stack up against decades of legendary winners like Cael Sanderson, Jordan Burroughs, Spencer Lee, and Gable Steveson.
With the announcement coming March 31, it’s truly anyone’s race. Starocci has the titles, Mesenbrink the bonus dominance, and Hendrickson the storyline—and each brings a different flavor to this year’s showdown. In a season filled with historic moments and record-breaking feats, the 2025 Hodge Trophy could come down to more than just stats—it might come down to what kind of greatness voters value most.
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