Ohio State senior Kollin Moore has been named one of eight finalists for the Hodge Award, wrestling’s equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.
Moore just completed an undefeated senior season with a record of 27-0 at the 197 lb weight class.
That record was even more impressive than it might look on the surface, because more than half of his matches this year were against top-25 opponents. He went 13-0 against them, earning bonus points for major decisions, tech falls, or pins in eight of those.
Moore won his third career Big Ten title this year, and was set to be the No. 1 overall seed in the 197 weight class at the NCAA Championships.
That event was canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
In the final match of his career, Moore recorded a 4-1 victory over Eric Schultz of Nebraska to claim the Big Ten title in his weight class. Moore and teammate Luke Pletcher, who won the Big Ten championship at 141 lbs., helped the Buckeyes earn a third-place finish behind Iowa and Nebraska.
Moore finished his Ohio State career with a record of 110-11, including 34-3 against Big Ten competition. He was an NCAA finalist in 2019, and finished in third place at the NCAAs in 2017.
The other finalists for this year’s Hodge Award are Iowa’s Spencer Lee, Princeton’s Pat Glory, Cornell’s Chad Tucker, Northwestern’s Ryan Deakin, Stanford’s Shane Griffith, West Virginia’s Noah Adams, and Minnesota’s Gable Steveson.
The finalists will be judged on their records, number of pins, dominance, and quality of opposition.
A committee of national media, retired college coaches, former Hodge recipients, representatives from national wrestling organizations, and a fan vote will determine the winner. The fan vote will be hosted by WIN magazine and start Monday, March 23.
The Hodge Trophy has been presented every year since 1995.
Only one Buckeye in history has won it. That was Logan Stieber, who wrestled at 141 lbs. when he won it in 2015.
Buckeye great Kyle Snyder was a finalist in 2016 and 2017.
totally agree with KMax about Snyder….and just sucks that Moore (heavily favored) and Pletcher ( about 50/50 with S. Lee) didn’t get the chance to win a title their senior years…
The fact the Kyle Snyder never won a Hodge is an oversight of epic proportions. At a certain point in his college career, Snyder had an argument for best wrestler in the WORLD (let alone the NCAA).