Three Penn State wrestlers — Roman Bravo-Young, Nick Lee and Carter Starocci — are finalists for this year’s prestigious Dan Hodge Trophy. Now, it’s up to fans at home to help send a Nittany Lion home with the hardware.
Fan voting for the Hodge Trophy — awarded annually to the nation’s best collegiate wrestler — is open until 6 p.m. EDT on Friday. The fan vote accounts for five first-place ballots toward the winner’s overall total, while a voting committee casts votes based on wrestlers’ records, sportsmanship and quality of competition.
Bravo-Young represents Penn State on this year’s ballot at 133 pounds. Now a two-time NCAA champion, he just wrapped up a 22-0 season that included four pins, four tech falls, and four major decisions. Claiming the Hodge Trophy might help him chart out his future as he weighs returning to Penn State for one more season.
Lee, meanwhile, is up for the Hodge Trophy after winning a second straight NCAA title, as well. The fifth-year 144-pounder bullied his way to a 22-0 record that included two pins, four tech falls and six major decisions. Although his collegiate career is now over, a Hodge Trophy win could send him out on an even higher note.
Finally, Starocci rounds out Penn State’s Hodge Trophy finalists. In just his second year, the 174-pounder claimed his second NCAA championship while posting a 23-0 record. Starocci recorded four pins, five tech falls, and four major decisions — all while persevering through injuries (and, according to coach Cael Sanderson, wrestling with a broken hand).
They join Michigan’s Nick Suriano, Cornell’s Yianni Diakomihalis, Northwestern’s Ryan Deakin, Missouri’s Keegan O’Toole and last year’s co-winner, Minnesota’s Gable Steveson, as finalists.
Four Nittany Lions have won the Hodge Trophy a total of six times: Kerry McCoy (1997), David Taylor (2012 and 2014), Zain Retherford (2017 and 2018) and Bo Nickal (2019).
Fans can vote for the winner and learn more about the honor at win-magazine.com/hodge-vote.
