Oklahoma State's Wyatt Hendrickson Wins the Hodge Trophy

Win Magazine, who tallies the vote for the illustrious Dan Hodge Trophy, went live on FloWrestling to make the announcement for the winner of the 2025 Hodge Trophy. The announcement of Hendrickson as the recipient of the Hodge Trophy left many in the wrestling world shocked. Yet, his resume speaks for itself.

The biggest factor in the closest Hodge Trophy race in history came down to the match against Gable Steveson. Hendrickson's dramatic late takedown of Steveson gave him the 5-4 win and closed out a 27-0 season. It was the only time Steveson had been taken down all season, and it ended his win streak at 70 matches. Steveson is an Olympic gold medalist, a two-time Hodge Trophy winner and a two-time national champion.

Hendrickson also defeated the defending 285 champion, Penn State’s Greg Kerkvliet, in the semifinals. His run through the NCAA Tournament helped Oklahoma State and first-year coach David Taylor finish third in the team standings. Taylor, a two-time Hodge Trophy winner himself, became the first former winner to coach a wrestler to the award.

The Hodge Trophy is voted on by retired coaches from each region, former Hodge winners, national media members and a fan poll that is worth five first-place votes.

Hendrickson narrowly won one of the most competitive Hodge votes in history. He received 30 of the 59 first-place votes with Penn State’s Carter Starocci earning 26 and fellow Nittany Lion Mitchell Mesenbrink acquiring three. Starocci is the only five-time national champion in Division I history. Mesenbrink was the national champion at 165.

Hendrickson also won the official Hodge Fan Vote, with 16,001 of the 32,961 verified fan votes that were cast online March 25-28. Starocci finished second in the fan vote with 13,108, while Mesenbrink finished third with 3,852.

Hendrickson now turns his sights on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.