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Hodge Preseason Front-Runners

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Updated: October 8, 2024

The Dan Hodge Trophy, sponsored by WIN Magazine and Culture House and presented by ASICS, will be awarded after the 2025 NCAA Championships to the most dominant college wrestler.

Created by WIN founder Mike Chapman in 1995, the award is named after the late Dan Hodge, the three-time NCAA champion from the University of Oklahoma (1955-57) who never allowed a takedown in his career and pinned 36 of 46 opponents.

In addition to the fan vote, the Hodge Trophy Voting Committee, made up of past winners of the award, former coaches and national media members select the winner each year. Criteria for winning the award includes a wrestler’s record, dominance/bonus-point percentage, quality of competition and sportsmanship.

There are 10 NCAA Division I wrestlers who have won NCAA championships and are considered preseason front-runners to win the 2025 Dan Hodge Trophy.

The following is a breakdown of their bonus-point victories in their career, including pins (P), technical falls (TF) and major decisions (MD), and what percentage of their total matches are bonus-point wins.

Wt Name School Year W-L P-TF-MD Bonus Pct.
125 Richard Figueroa Arizona State Junior 29-5 1-3-5 .264
141 Jesse Mendez Ohio State Junior 48-11 10-10-9 .491
141 Andrew Alirez Northern Colorado Grad 72-10 18-9-18 .548
149 Caleb Henson Virginia Tech Junior 57-7 6-12-9 .421
174 Keegan O’Toole Missouri Senior 88-4 28-16-15 .641
174 Levi Haines Penn State Junior 48-2 9-6-10 .500
184 Carter Starocci Penn State RS Senior 77-4 12-15-14 .506
184 Parker Keckeisen Northern Iowa RS Senior 100-5 7-20-39 .628
197 A.J. Ferrari CSU Bakersfield Junior 29-1 3/7/5 .500
Hwt Greg Kerkvliet Penn State RS Senior 71-10 13-13-23 .506

Past Winners of the Dan Hodge Trophy

Year Name School
2024 Aaron Brooks Penn State
2023 Mason Parris Michigan
2022 Gable Steveson Minnesota
2021 Spencer Lee Iowa
& Gable Steveson Minnesota
2020 Spencer Lee Iowa
2019 Bo Nickal Penn State
2018 Zain Retherford Penn State
2017 Zain Retherford Penn State
2016 Alex Dieringer Oklahoma State
2015 Logan Stieber Ohio State
2014 David Taylor Penn State
2013 Kyle Dake Cornell U.
2012 David Taylor Penn State
2011 Jordan Burroughs Nebraska
2010 Jayson Ness Minnesota
2009 Jake Herbert Northwestern
2008 Brent Metcalf Iowa
2007 Ben Askren Missouri
2006 Ben Askren Missouri
2005 Steve Mocco Oklahoma State
2004 Emmett Willson Mont. State-Northern
2003 Eric Larkin Arizona State
2002 Cael Sanderson Iowa State
2001 Cael Sanderson Iowa State
& Nick Ackerman Simpson College
2000 Cael Sanderson Iowa State
1999 Stephen Neal CSU Bakersfield
1998 Mark Ironside Iowa
1997 Kerry McCoy Penn State
1996 Les Gutches Oregon State
1995 T.J. Jaworsky North Carolina