2026 Dan Hodge Trophy Fan Vote Is Open
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by WIN Magazine
Fan voting has begun in the 2026 ASICS Race for the Dan Hodge Trophy. When the dust settled on the 2026 NCAA DI Wrestling Championships March 21 in Cleveland, seven of the 10 NCAA champions finished the season undefeated and are the finalists for the 2026 WIN Magazine/Culture House Dan Hodge Trophy.
Penn State and Oklahoma State each have multiple finalists. Nittany Lions Luke Lilledahl (25-0 at 125), Mitchell Mesenbrink (27-0 at 165), Levi Haines (26-0 at 174) and Josh Barr (24-0 at 197) each won their respective weights. Mesenbrink and Haines are now two-time champs.
The Cowboys have two Hodge finalists. Freshmen Jax Forrest (18-0 at 133) and Sergio Vega (24-0 at 141) were undefeated and won at consecutive weights in the lineup. However, the two Cowboys bookended the NCAA finals after the decision was made to start the finals at 141 so the much-anticipated battle of freshmen at 133 between Forrest and Ohio State’s talented Ben Davino would be the last bout of the night. Vega won his title over two-time NCAA champ Jesse Mendez of Ohio State, considered by many to be one of the front-runners all season for this year’s Hodge.
The seventh and final Hodge finalist is 285-pound champion Issac Trumble of North Carolina State. Trumble finished the season 21-0 and blanked top-seeded Yonger Bastida of Iowa State 5-0 in the finals.
The statistics of each Hodge finalist is included in the story’s main graphic.
The four criteria for the Hodge are record, dominance/bonus-point percentage, quality of competition, and sportsmanship. Similar to the Heisman Trophy in football, the Hodge Trophy Voting Committee is made up of each past Hodge winner, a group of retired college coaches from different parts of the country, national media members, and a representative of each national wrestling organization. In addition to their votes, the winner of the Hodge Fan Vote, which ends on Friday, March 27, gets five additional first-place votes.
The Hodge winner will be announced on Tuesday, March 31, at 12 pm CST.
