Wrestling: Retherford wins the Hodge Trophy
After claiming the 149-pound NCAA Championship for a second season in a row, Penn State junior Zain Retherford has been named the 2017 Dan Hodge Trophy winner.
The Hodge Trophy is coming back to Penn State.
WIN Magazine announced the voting results for the 2017 Dan Hodge Trophy Tuesday and the winner is two-time national champion 149-pound Zain Retherford.
Voting criteria is based on a wrestler’s record, number of pins, dominance on the mat, past credentials, quality of competition along with sportsmanship, citizenship and heart.
As a junior in the 2016-17 season, Retherford won titles for the second consecutive year at the NCAA and Big Ten tournaments. He finished with a record of 28-0 after finishing his sophomore season with a 34-0 mark. His winning streak is an active long among NCAA wrestlers and stands at 63, dating back to the fifth-place match of his true freshman season in 2013-14.
From Benton, Pa., Retherford tied 184-pound sophomore Bo Nickal for the most pins on Penn State’s roster this season with a total of 17. Seven of Retherford’s victories came by technical fall, one shy of the team lead eight set by 157-pound sophomore Jason Nolf. With one major decision and a forfeit on the year, all but two of Retherford’s victories came with bonus.
All nine of his postseason victories this season came with bonus, a total that includes four pins and five technical falls. In his national final against Missouri’s Lavion Mayes, Retherford won by an 18-2 technical fall in 6 minutes and 42 seconds. In both of his NCAA final appearances he has scored bonus.
The 26th three-time All-American in PSU history, Retherford was honored as the NCAA Championships’ Most Outstanding Wrestler after the tournament. He was also named the NCAA’s Most Dominant Wrestler for his overall season effort.
In the the fan voting for the Hodge Trophy, which ended Saturday, Retherford was a strong favorite. His 11,260 votes were first among his peers and over 2,700 more than second-place J’Den Cox of Missouri, a three-time national champ. By winning the fan voting, Retherford received two additional first-place ballots in the final vote. Teammate Jason Nolf finished fourth in fan voting with 1,1317.
The determining ballots were casted from all the past winners, a retired college coach from different regions of the country, members of the national wrestling media and representatives from each national wrestling organization.
Since the inaugural year the of award in 1995, Retherford becomes the third Nittany Lion to have won it. Kerry McCoy first earned it in 1997 as a senior before David Taylor twice won the voting, once in 2012 as a sophomore and then again as a senior in 2014.
Head coach Cael Sanderson was a three-time Hodge Trophy winner for Iowa State in 2000, ’01 and ’02.
A year ago, Retherford won the fan vote but ultimately finished second in the final tally behind winner Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State. As Retherford said after his final match this year, it had been part of his goal to finish first this season.
"I wanted to win last year, so I think not getting it – Alex Dieringer is a very worthy guy to receive the award, very tough competitor – but obviously you want to win that," Retherford said. "That was out of my control, so after realizing that last year, after I didn't get it, I really didn't put too much weight on it this year. It would be an honor to get it. But, like I said, that's out of my control. So I just do whatever I can out there, score points, not let that make me nervous or anything like that. But it would be awesome to get it for sure."