As great a record as Russell has had the past 2 years (and college really) he can't really get the aware based on the criteria. How many sophs have won it? If I'm not mistaken Cael won it 3 times didn't he? If sophs have won it in the past I'm guessing DT #1, Ruth #2, Dake #3 based on this season. If Dake were a senior, having never won it, then I think he would get it. How do you become a 4-time NCAA champ and never win the Hodge? If Dake is a 4-timer, he will get it sometime.

---

I found this in a story about Jason Ness that gives some insight into the committees decision. From this it looks like dominance as rated by pinning percentage seems to be the deciding factor, after being an undefeated national champion.

Ness pinned 19 of 31 opponents for a stingy pinning percentage of 61 percent, including 13 of his first 14 opponents. Sixteen of the 19 pins came in the first period for the Bloomington, Minnesota native. The two runner-ups for this year’s Hodge Trophy were Iowa State’s Jake Varner and Iowa’s Jay Borschel, champs at 197 and 174 respectively. Varner won his second straight national title, finishing 32-0. Borschel capped a perfect 37-0 season with his first NCAA crown.

---

But the reason Ness was selected over Varner and Borschel was the number of pins he had, nearly doubling both his counterparts. Varner and Borschel both finished the year with 10 apiece. Borschel’s pinning percentage was 27 percent, Varner’s 31 percent. Varner has had better past credentials than Ness as a four-time finalist, but the award is a single-season award. Past credentials are used in tiebreaker situations where pin numbers, for example, are nearly equal.

Quick scan of records up until the NCAA's and a little recollection I come up with the following for pins.

Taylor - 14
Dake - 12
Ruth - 10
Molinaro - not very many

If pins is the true deciding factor looks like Taylor gets it. DC

I'm curious if tech falls are considered along with pins (or maybe even total bonus wins).

Looks to be an old school award, no mention of tech falls in the criteria although it could fall in with dominance, but that is after falls in order of preference.

I remember having this discussion last year, but am too lazy to go back into the archives. I believe if pins allowed was the overriding factor that JO would have won it, having more pins than Burroughs. But I think that TF's also played a factor where JB had many of them. I could be wrong--my memory isn't as good as it was 80 years ago!

Originally Posted by Daisy Cutter

Looks to be an old school award, no mention of tech falls in the criteria although it could fall in with dominance, but that is after falls in order of preference.

Dont assume that the criteria are in order of preference. The committee can pretty much do whatever they want. In my opinion, they proved that last year.

Originally Posted by Daisy Cutter

Quick scan of records up until the NCAA's and a little recollection I come up with the following for pins.

Taylor - 14
Dake - 12
Ruth - 10
Molinaro - not very many

If pins is the true deciding factor looks like Taylor gets it. DC

My count through the NCAA's is:

Taylor - 15
Dake - 13
Ruth - 10

But that's a rough count, could be off. I'm curious about tech-falls as well. I would think DT has the edge there.