Fan voting for the 2018 WIN Magazine/Culture House Dan Hodge Trophy has begun. The Hodge Trophy is the top award in college wrestling and has been presented annually since 1994 to the nation’s most dominant collegiate wrestler.

The award is named after Dan Hodge, the former three-time (1955-57) NCAA champion from the University of Oklahoma, who did not allow a takedown in his career and pinned 36 of 46 victims.

Voting Criteria

Criteria for the award include:

1. A wrestler’s record;
2. Number of pins;
3. Dominance on the mat;
4. Quality of competition;
5. Past credentials;
6. Sportsmanship/citizenship; and
7. Heart

The first four criteria are the primary criteria. Number of pins is an extremely important criteria. Part of the reason the award was created was to elevate the importance of the pin, and to motivate top collegians to go for the fall. The Hodge Trophy is a single-season award. However, if you have two candidates who are virtually equal, consideration can be given to past credentials, which is criteria No. 5. The last two criteria should be used to help guide voters to select a winner who also is a good representative of the sport.

The winner will be announced on Tuesday, March 27th. The winner of the fan vote will earn two first-place votes among the total ballots from a group of formal voters which includes each former Hodge Trophy winner, national media, representatives of national wrestling organizations and retired former college coaches from different regions.

The deadline for your vote is this Friday, March 23, at 5:00 pm CST.

The 2018 Finalists

The following is a statistical breakdown, in alphabetical order, of the four finalists.

Seth Gross

133 pounds, So. Dakota State, Junior, Apple Valley, Minn.

Two-time NCAA finalist (2nd in 2017)
*Lost against 141# No. 1-Ranked Bryce Meredith of Wyoming

Bo Nickal

184 pounds, Penn State, Junior, Allen, Texas

Two-time NCAA champion, three-time finalist (2nd in 2016)

Zain Retherford

149 pounds, Penn State, Senior, Benton, Pa.

Three-time NCAA champion, four-time All-American (5th in 2014)

Zahid Valencia

174, Arizona State, Sophomore, Bellflower, Calif.

Two-time All-American (3rd in 2017)

Below are the final results of the 2018 Hodge Trophy Fan Vote.  Please check your email for next week’s Hodge Trophy announcement.