Two Penn State national champions are up for college wrestling’s top annual award.
Nittany Lions Carter Starocci and Mitchell Mesenbrink join Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Hendrickson are the three finalists for the Dan Hodge Trophy, which is awarded annually to the nation’s top wrestler.
The Hodge winner is determined by the most first-place votes from the Hodge Trophy Voting Committee and a fan based on criteria including record, dominance/bonus-point percentage, quality of competition and sportsmanship. Fan voting is open until 6 p.m. EDT on Friday, March 28, at win-magazine.com/2025/03/25/fanvote-2.
The winner will be announced at 1 p.m. EDT on March 31.
Starocci wrapped up his Penn State career last weekend with an unprecedented fifth individual national title, defeating Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa for the 184 pound championship after winning his previous four crowns at 174. He finished the season with a 26-0 record, including six pins, 10 tech falls, five major decisions and one forfeit for an 84.6% bonus point rate .
Cementing himself among Penn State and college wrestling’s all-time greats, the five-time All-America was 104-4 overall as a Nittany Lion and won three Big Ten Championships.
Mesenbrink capped a stellar redshirt sophomore campaign by defeating Michael Caliendo of Iowa for the 165 pound championship after taking second in the weight class as a freshman. Mesenbrink went 27-0 on the year, winning 18 by technical fall, the most in the nation, three by major decision and three by forfeit for an 88.9% bonus point rate. The two-time All-American also won his second consecutive Big Ten title.
Since the award’s inception in 1994, five Penn State wrestlers have won the Hodge Trophy a total of seven times: Kerry McCoy (1997), David Taylor (2012, 2014), Zain Retherford (2017, 2018), Bo Nickal (2019) and Aaron Brooks (2024).
Oklahoma State’s Hendrickson finished his final college season with an upset of Minnesota’s Gable Steveson in the NCAA heavyweight final to capture his first national championship. Hendrickson was 27-0 on the year, including 13 pins, eight tech falls and one forfeit for an 81.5% bonus rate.
