Takedown Report

By Bryan Van Kley, WIN Magazine
NEWTON, Iowa — The WIN Magazine/Culture House Dan Hodge Trophy has been awarded to the most dominant collegiate wrestler since 1995. Out of an amazing group of four Hodge finalists this year, Penn State two-time NCAA champ Zain Retherford has been named the 2017 Hodge winner, presented annually to the top collegian by ASICS.   “I met Dan Hodge at a National Wrestling Hall of Fame event a few years ago. To win something like this named in his honor is pretty awesome,” Retherford said. “This award symbolizes who he is as a person and competitor.”  The award, created by Culture House’s Mike Chapman, is named after Hodge, who was a three-time NCAA champion for the University of Oklahoma from 1955 to 1957, was undefeated over those three years at 46-0 and pinned an amazing 36 of those opponents.  Retherford, who was 28-0 this season, won a second straight NCAA title at 149 pounds after completely dismantling competitors at the weight for a second straight year. Retherford has won 63 straight matches over the past two years to move his career record to 95-3. And much like his 2015-2016 run of domination, this year’s tally included only two matches in which the Nittany Lion did not score bonus points.