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“Scouring the land looking for anyone to beat” Gable makes no sense. It’s like saying the USA scoured the land (in barns? under bridges?) looking for anyone to beat Yarygin, who pinned his way through the ‘72 Olympics.

I have no inside info about anything. But… In terms of technical skill, I was impressed by a number of athletes, including CStar, Hamiti, and KOT. Whether any of them want to coach, no clue.

If a coach is going to run an elite program in the current environment, he is going to welcome anyone who can challenge for the starting job. On the other side of the coin, athletes are free to transfer to another team if the elite program no longer suits them. It’s not how a lot of people are comfortable operating, but it’s how an elite program must operate if it is going to be elite.

My list… 1- CStar 2- MM 3- Steveson 4- Keck 5- Hamiti 6- KOT 7- Hendrickson 8- Mendez 9- Byrd 10- Buchanan

It’s all about vibes, as I’ve been saying. But I’d note that if the Hodge simply became the most falls in a season award, that would at least provide some superficial objectivity (not accounting for number of matches, strength of schedule, strength of weight class, etc). Anyway, congrats to Hendrickson.

In reality Hodge voting is subjective. If it were truly about dominance, as evidenced by bonus percentage, MM would have won.

Voting for Carter is reasonable. He had a better bonus percentage than Hendrickson (and, of course, won an unprecedented fifth title).

I congratulate Hendrickson, but I’d also point out that Carter had a higher bonus percentage than Hendrickson—which, of course, suggests that he was more dominant than Hendrickson. Hodge voting is inherently subjective though and many years, like this year, multiple people have a strong case.

Right. But if an athlete wins a world/Olympic medal within months of an NCAA season, I think that’s relevant. Brooks won an Olympic bronze immediately after his final NCAA season. I don’t think any of the others did that (if my memory is right) — of course Starocci and MM may pursue a world team this year.

Zain having zero votes as of now is surprising. 3x champ, 2x Hodge winner (and eventual world champ)

Who is it? Polls here only allow 20 options so I did not extend the poll to ISU wrestlers (like Paulson and Varner).

My wife named our son after her trainer, first, middle, and last name, and it was just because she liked the name. The one part I never understood was why she added “Jr” at the end.

125- LL / Desmond 133- LL / Davis / Nagao / Ono / Blaze 141- Davis / Nagao / Ono / Blaze 149- SVN 157- Kasak / Duke 165- MM 174- Haines / Welsh 184- Barr / Ryder / Welsh 197- Barr / Con Mirasola 285- Col Mirasola Is this above in the neighborhood of possible? (Edit: BarSeries mentioned Duke)

??

I don’t know much about MMA, but I do understand that it offers some athletes fame and money. And I assume it also comes with the potential for brain injuries Anyway, which (if any) 2025 seniors have announced plans to pursue MMA?

I get the questions about Ono’s mat wrestling. And those are valid. But I just want to emphasize that at 2024 worlds he beat Uguev 10-2 and teched everyone else—including Vito. There’s never been international freestyler come in with credentials like that. (Uetake, of course, won an Olympic gold after his sophomore year.)

Why would Blaze need to RS? He gave Ono his closest match last summer (between senior level and U20s). He’s ready right now, so why not let him cook?

The closer folkstyle is to freestyle, the more often you might see top international talent compete here. It would potentially provide a new source if talent for programs like Iowa and OkSt. To all you freestyle skeptics: just think about it

I assume Blaze is better at folkstyle, and I’m guessing he’ll get to pick his weight class next year. It’s not at all clear how good Ono is at folkstyle. It’s not even clear he can beat Davis or Nagao. (In freestyle, of course, only guys like Uetake and Smith are even comparable.) Nevertheless, Blaze and Ono will only improve one another.

Ono is much more talented than nearly all D1 wrestlers, ever. However, he will have three significant challenges: 1) getting through his schoolwork; 2) getting by Davis and Nagao (in folkstyle); and 3) mat wrestling—most critically bottom. Of course, other international wrestlers have done well in D1 wrestling, so there’s good reason to think he can adapt.

Perhaps not. Not sure if cael cares about coaching records, but I noticed that Gable coached Iowa to 15 team titles, while Cael now has 12. It seems possible for Cael to catch Gable on that front. Also, Gable had a bunch of his athletes go out and coach elsewhere. I wonder how many Cael-trained athletes eventually become head coaches.

He’s also coached athletes who won five titles on down to one.

Great points about the difficulty of repeating as champ — much less repeating four times. So many factors come into play: getting scouted well, losing motivation, injuries, bad calls, bad luck, evolving techniques, surging new competitors, etc. Winning five in a row without losing on the mat for more than four years is remarkable. I’d add that this year, CStar had a higher bonus rate than Hendrickson, he beat one of the weight class’s best in Ferrari without being sure he would even face him, and he beat an extremely tough Keck who was a Hodge candidate last year. IMO CStar is insanely good. Now I wonder whether he’ll pursue freestyle, MMA, or something else.

PSU got 177 team points (a record)

Heavyweight features two of the remaining four undefeated wrestlers (along with MM and CStar)