Oklahoma State's Wyatt Hendrickson Wins Hodge Trophy

(Oklahoma State athletics media relations contributed to this article.)

STILLWATER – Another day, another trophy for Oklahoma State heavyweight, Wyatt Hendrickson, as it was announced Monday morning Hendrickson has won the 2025 Dan Hodge Trophy.

He won the award over a pair of Penn State wrestlers, Mitchell Mesenbrink and Carter Starroci. 

He’s the third Cowboy to win the award, joining fellow heavyweight, Steve Mocco, who won the award back in 2005, and Alex Dieringer in 2016. 

It’s fitting Hendrickson has won the Hodge Trophy as he was the first heavyweight since Mocco in 2005 to win a national title, and Mocco was the first Cowboy to win the Hodge Trophy back in ‘05.

“I’m just so proud of Wyatt for everything he’s accomplished this season,” head coach David Taylor said. “Being a dominant wrestler is something I’ve really embraced and the biggest award you can get for that is this one. It’s an absolute blessing. It feels great. It’s been a lot of hard work and a lot of people that have poured a lot of effort into me.”

Hendrickson posted one of the most successful seasons in Cowboy wrestling history. He finished with a perfect 27-0 record, capped with beating top-seed Gable Steveson in the NCAA finals. Steveson has won two NCAA heavyweight titles, an Olynpic gold medal and had won 70-matches before his loss to Hendrickson. Wyatt beat the reigning NCAA heavyweight champion, Greg Kerkvliet, in the semifinals.

“It’s been a lot of hard work compiled over the past five years,” Hendrickson said in the release. “Being a dominant wrestler is something I’ve really embraced and the biggest award you can get for that is this one. It’s an absolute blessing. It feels great. It’s been a lot of hard work and a lot of people that have poured a lot of effort into me.”

Hendrickson finished his collegiate career with a 127-11 all-time record, three-All-America honors and was named the Big 12 Wrestler of the Year and the NCAA Most Dominant Wrestler for the third time of his career for the third time in his career.

The coveted Hodge Trophy was created in 1994 by former WIN founder Mike Chapman and named after Dan Hodge, the late three-time national champion from the University of Oklahoma. This year, it was voted on by former winners, a retired coach from each region, a representative of each national wrestling organization, national media members and a fan poll worth five first-place votes.

Like the Heisman Trophy in football, the Hodge is a single-season award based on record, dominance, bonus-point percentage, quality of competition and sportsmanship.