SocraTease

Can you give us a source for the claim that pins are eliminated as a criterion for the Hodge? This is from an August, 2024 NCAA.com article, but maybe there is some document that is more official or supersedes it: "Originally created to celebrate the pin in college wrestling, the Dan Hodge Trophy is based on seven criteria including record, number of pins, dominance, past credentials, quality of competition, sportsmanship/citizenship and heart. The trophy is based primarily on the results of a single season, but past accomplishments are considered as well, particularly in years where the competition is tighter." https://www.ncaa.com/news/wrestling/article/2022-04-02/dan-hodge-trophy-history-winners-and-how-it-works

Well, I think you are right about the point concerning pins. I believe it was (or still is) written into the original Hodge award language that pins are the (or a) top criterion. But voters seem to ignore that and translate it into "dominance" as you note. Steveson rarely pins and Starocci isn't a big pinner either. And neither is Mesenbrink, among others like Bartlett, Ramos, and KOT. Someone Askren is nodding his head (formerly) full of tall hair.

I find it hard to believe that Hodge voters wouldn't support an unprecedented five-timer who has not yet received the award if he wins out and continues to bonus most of his matches, though the vote may be close with Steveson, who has won the award previously and is on low match count. Has there ever been a 4 timer besides C-Star who never won the Hodge? Yianni I guess ... perhaps because he lost in his senior year. Btw: is Yianni still competing in freestyle? I see he is one of the coach heading to the upcoming ranking series, but that he isn't wrestling.

"And the third comes from his belief that he will deny his opponent an escape point by putting in a two minute ride in the secomd or third." I would modify this remark to say that he knows he (Starocci) will get an escape point himself for the third of the three points you reference. Denying an opponent an escape doesn't give Starocci a point, and you've already indicated he will likely get a point from riding time. That's my two cents (or rather one point).

Penn State had a 60 match win streak, I think, before losing to Iowa and beginning their present 70 match win streak. 130-1 over the last decade. Insane. A 99.2 percent winning percentage. They are creeping up on the reliability of death and taxes.

How does Penn State's 2025 Murder's Row compare with these lineups?

The marching beat of the lineup is a bit off: 1-2, 1-1, 2-1, 2-2. It needs to be adjusted at either Big Tens or NCAAs to a more rhythmic 1-2 pattern. Or perhaps it is just Cael having fun with dissonance and idiosyncrasy .

My guess is that Brands has both Ferrari and Arnold weigh in. Then he waits to see where the dual is when they hit 184. If the match is virtually wrapped up by then (and it may not be), he considers going with Arnold to better prepare him for NCAAs

I just saw that. Bartlett and Mendez will likely meet again soon at B1Gs, though there are some other potential landmines in their path: Hardy, Vombaur, and Lemley being the top 3 contenders.

Separated at Girth?

That sounds like a reasonable watershed. So it is basically BG (Before Gable) and AG (After Gable) ... though of course Gable wrestled until 1970 in college It would be an interesting (and also controversial) enterprise to attempt to define wrestling eras based on changes in style—e.g., "the postmodern era" as commencing with, say, "Funk" (circa the arrival of Askren though preceded by Schalles, among possible others.). And now there might be a post-post modern era where extremely talented high schoolers transition quickly to college ... and so on. Perhaps future historians will designate a BC (Before Cael) and AC (After Cael) era based particularly on his coaching style: Points + Fun + Gratitude ... or something like that

But Bartlett JUST beat Mendez and it is (and should be) this season's rankings not across seasons. If they hadn't wrestled this season, sure give Mendez the nod because he pulled out a last second win over Bartlett at NCAAs and beat him at Big Tens (even if Bartlett beat him in the dual last year). The only way I can see ranking Mendez informally above Bartlett is if you also consider the All-Star match this year, but that is not supposed to count in official rankings

For what it is worth, today's Wrestlestat has Bartlett at #1. Today's Win rankings has Alirez at #1 and Mendez at #2. What, pray tell, absurd reasoning leads them to put Mendez above Bartlett? I think FLO's and Intermat's rankings appear tomorrow.

Looks like the regular season concludes with a big one: #2 Iowa vs. #3 OK State (or vice-versa) for the "Kiss your Sister" trophy and a second place ranking as we head into the tournament part of the calendar.

Beau Bartlett has a 100-1 shot to get the Hodge. But don't discount the nonconformist style points he might win with renegade voters (all two of them ... one being Askren perhaps) given his unorthodox choice of wrestling shoes.

I think FLO was referring to the Big Ten record, which is now held by Penn State at 70. It was formerly 69. It would be interesting to see a dual between PSU and OK State when PSU hits either 76 or 77 (if we include non-D1 schools) because it would add some big drama to the next season: the old record vs. the record-breaking attempt; Cael vs. DT, two of the top perennial powerhouses, etc. I imagine these teams could schedule that match early enough in the coming season, but National Duals might conceivably interfere with it. Or PSU could participate on opposite sides of the tournament from OK State and hope they meet in the finals.

Does it seem like these two points could both be true this season? (a) There have been fewer major (top guys) upsets than usual. (It's just a perception not a proposition.) (b) At this point, there are fewer undefeated wrestlers than usual (In fact, by the end of the season, there might only reasonably be four or less. Maybe five (I'm not sure what the average is, however). Wrestleknownothing ?

100 percent BS. That was a TD by Sealy. Angel is often a devil for Penn State

I misspoke (or mis-wrote). Clarification: In freestyle, Teemer would get lots of passivity calls and lose that way. And, yes, I was being a bit hyperbolic to make the point. Minimally, he would need to adjust his wrestling because he doesn't stay in the center of the mat in folkstyle (he backs away) and would "dinged" for that constantly if he didn't make changes to his approach in freestyle.

Here's the match:

I can't stand watching Teemer wrestle. He does nothing for 99 percent of the match. In fact, he just backs up and backs up and backs up. He should be hit for stalling early and often. He would be defaulted out of freestyle match in the first two minutes

I think it was a very time-delayed and long distance stall call from the Penn State match on Friday. Arnold was "playing the edge" from out of bounds while Ferrari wrestled. Arnold never showed up for the tag in a planned tag-team scenario ... perhaps because he was in the stall himself.

Arnold was escorted out before Ferrari's match: https://x.com/DublerCraig/status/1885526782670958604?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1885526782670958604|twgr^|twcon^s1_c10&ref_url=

He's obviously trying to impress or emulate Mike Evans

A new twist on the Fireman's Carry? Kasak looks like a fireman carrying an injured guy out of a burning house and signaling to his family that he is safe.