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Penn State Wrestling

Three Penn State Wrestlers Named Hodge Trophy Finalists

Penn State Wrestling
Photo by NCAA: Roman Bravo-Young

Penn Stateโ€™s 2021-22 wrestling season was an indisputable success. The year ended last weekend with the Nittany Lions winning their ninth team national championship in 11 seasons, and if that werenโ€™t enough, Penn State went 5-for-5 in its individual national championship matches.

Three of those national championsโ€” Roman Bravo-Young, Carter Starocci and Nick Leeโ€” have been named finalists for this years Hodge Trophy, given annually to Americaโ€™s best college wrestler.

Penn State represents almost half of the finalists, with three of the eight being Nittany Lions. Six of the eight finalists are from the Big Ten.

Bravo-Young won his second individual championship at the 133-pound weight class, capping off a perfect 22-0 season. The Hodge Trophy would be a perfect feather in the cap of Bravo-Young decides not to return to Penn State, a decision which heโ€™s currently pondering.

Like Bravo-Young, Lee is also a two-time champion and also finished 22-0. Unlike Bravo-Young, the 144-pounder and fifth-year wrestler is out of collegiate eligibility, so the Hodge is the last thing left for him to win as a college wrestler.

The third and final finalists is Starocci, who won his second individual national title in just his second year at the 174-pound weight class, finishing the season with a 23-0 record.

The other finalists are; Gable Steveson (Minnesota), Nick Suriano (Michigan), Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell), Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) and Keegan Oโ€™Toole (Missouri).

Penn State hopes to have itโ€™s fifth Hodge Trophy winner and seventh award overall. The previous winners are Kerry McCoy (1997), David Taylor (2012, 2014), Zain Retherford (2017-18), and Bo Nickal (2019). Fan voting is open until 6 p.m. Friday.

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