Penn State wrestlers Carter Starocci and Mitchell Mesenbrink miss out on 2025 Hodge Trophy
Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Hendrickson is the Hodge Trophy award winner. He beat out Penn State wrestlers Carter Starocci and Mitchell Mesenbrink for the sport’s top individual honor. The Cowboy had 30 first place votes. Starocci had 26. And, Mesenbrink finished with three.
Hendrickson beat Minnesota’s Gable Steveson with a late takedown in the 285-pound final at nationals. He and Mesenbrink were both 27-0 on the season. Starocci was 28-0.
“There’s never been one quite like this where there was so much debate among the wrestling community,” WIN Magazine owner Bryan Van Kley told FLO. The award is voted on using criteria that include bonus point percentage, season record, and quality of competition, among other things. It is a single season trophy, not a legacy one, Van Kley said. It is college wrestling’s version of the Heisman Trophy.
Five Penn State wrestlers have won the Hodge Trophy a combined seven times since Kerry McCoy won it in 1997. Aaron Brooks was the most recent to do so. He took the honor in 2024. Lions coach Cael Sanderson continues to be the only wrestler to ever win it three times.
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“You can either train to beat most of the guys or train to beat the top guys,” Hendrickson told WIN. “To beat those best guys, your technique has to be more precise. It is a game of inches and ounces. The stakes are so high. (Taylor) portrayed that to me as well as all my coaches. Each gave me a unique perspective on a small piece of my technique. They all master different things. They brought attention to my gaps.”
More Penn State wrestling updates
It’s been a busy eight days for the Penn State wrestling program since the 2024-2025 season ended with the team’s fourth straight team title. Reigning 61 kilogram (134.4 pounds) senior and junior level champ Masanosuke Ono will return to the U.S. and enroll at Penn State. He will compete at either 133 or 141 pounds. Rocco Welsh, formerly of Ohio State, hit the transfer portal last week and committed to the Nittany Lions on Sunday. Back on Tuesday, Sanderson’s side flipped top Class of 2026 recruit Jayden James from Virginia Tech. And, Alex Facundo, Jack Kelly, Gary Steen, David Evans, AJ Fricchone, Marco Vespa, and Aurelius Dunbar are all in the transfer portal looking for a new school to wrestle at.
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