Hodge Trophy Favorites! So you think you know wrestling? Top five?

[NREPP Fraud]

1)Rivera from Rutgers! Those two wins over Lee are proven to be no joke!
2) Fix. Dude is All Domination on his feet!
3) Gable at hwt! Wins title in his sleep
4) Deakin! Upsets defending champ Carr!
5) winner at 25! Take your pick! Lee, Glory, or Suriano

 

[slushhead]

What I do know is that this is not going to go well for you, my friend. 😉

My Top 5 picks for responses:

1) GTFOH
2) Your a douche
3) Your a moran
4) I have him on ignore
5) This is all your fault @blcoach80

 

[jrod65]

I refuse to answer unless the OP is willing to add just a couple more exclamation points.

 

[24 so far]

What I do know is that this is not going to go well for you, my friend. 😉

My Top 5 picks for responses:

1) GTFOH
2) Your a douche
3) Your a moran
4) I have him on ignore
5) This is all your fault @blcoach80

Had him on Ignore under his previous name, thought I'd give him some new rope to hang himself, and here we are. Bye-bye times two. Oh well.

 

[slushhead]

Ok, ok, I’ll play along . . .

Normally, I’d just slot Steveson, S. Lee, and Diakomihalis at 1, 2, and 3, but there are caveats there with participation rate, participation rate and health, and effort, respectively. So, I’m listing 8 guys, based on those caveats and a presumption that each guy competes at Nationals and finishes the season undefeated . . .

1. Steveson (if participation rate doesn’t matter)
2. Diakomihalis (if he tries)
3. S. Lee (health to hurt his dominance, participation rate < #2)
4. Starocci (if he widens the gap on Grandpa)
5. Deakin
6. N. Lee
7. Brooks
8. Wick

Arujau is my darkhorse pick to crack the Top 5.

 

[Grip220]

To not have Fix in the conversation is dumb, to have Rivera in the convo is dumb. I will start with that.

 

[slushhead]

To not have Fix in the conversation is dumb, to have Rivera in the convo is dumb. I will start with that.

Juicer

 

[IRONBIRD]

Not sure why anyone would have stevenson and not Spencer Lee? Actually; even with two bump knees, I am not sure why you would not have Lee. If, uh no, WHEN he runs the table again. I am not sure how you could give it to anyone else. He will bonus just about everyone, maybe have a few matches where his opponents look to stall the match which has already been discussed and they may escape with the match closer then 8.

125 appears to be shaping up as a pretty tough weight class also. It certainly will have more fire power at the top then heavy in my opinion. I do not think you can argue about the depth as 125 is much deeper then heavy,

 

[Grip220]

Juicer

I agree, but he is really good.

 

[Grip220]

Not sure why anyone would have stevenson and not Spencer Lee? Actually; even with two bump knees, I am not sure why you would not have Lee. If, uh no, WHEN he runs the table again. I am not sure how you could give it to anyone else. He will bonus just about everyone, maybe have a few matches where his opponents look to stall the match which has already been discussed and they may escape with the match closer then 8.

125 appears to be shaping up as a pretty tough weight class also. It certainly will have more fire power at the top then heavy in my opinion. I do not think you can argue about the depth as 125 is much deeper then heavy,

Agree, The only reasons would be guys just not wrestling or wrestling just not to get pinned,teched or majored also lack of matches. I can’t remember what the exact criteria is.
He is not going to chase guys around and get into funky positions anymore just for a tech.

 

[slushhead]

I agree, but he is really good.

I agree he is talented, but “character” is supposed to be a criterion for Hodge. I support that.

Like a scientist who gets caught fabricating data . . . it’s a death sentence for credibility. You can’t get it back, IMO. Which is why he isn’t on my list and never will be.

 

[slushhead]

125 appears to be shaping up as a pretty tough weight class also. It certainly will have more fire power at the top then heavy in my opinion. I do not think you can argue about the depth as 125 is much deeper then heavy,

I couldn’t disagree more. They are both loaded at the top. I’d call it pretty even.

- Steveson & Lee comparable
- Parris/Kerk/Schultz/Cass comparable to (if not better than) Arujau/Suriano/Glory/and who? Courtney? Lamont?

If I had to pick one, Heavy gets the nod.

 

[Kidwicked]

I agree, but he is really good.

RBY begs to differ .. 🤣

 

[IRONBIRD]

I couldn’t disagree more. They are both loaded at the top. I’d call it pretty even.

- Steveson & Lee comparable
- Parris/Kerk/Schultz/Cass comparable to (if not better than) Arujau/Suriano/Glory/and who? Courtney? Lamont?

If I had to pick one, Heavy gets the nod.

Suriano is a returning champ, Courntney a returning finalist, the new F*** st transfer is a returning AA.

 

[ping72]

I agree he is talented, but “character” is supposed to be a criterion for Hodge. I support that.

Like a scientist who gets caught fabricating data . . . it’s a death sentence for credibility. You can’t get it back, IMO. Which is why he isn’t on my list and never will be.

This. Steveson was accused, but never convicted of anything. Fix was caught juicing. That should disqualify him with no debate, IMO.

 

[YoungGun07]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[slushhead]

This. Steveson was accused, but never convicted of anything. Fix was caught juicing. That should disqualify him with no debate, IMO.

Right. And the other thing about Steveson is that his degree of separation is so much greater, it is tough to look past it. I’ve always taken issue with his sportsmanship on the mat, but he is just so far ahead of everyone talent/skillwise, that it is hard to harp on that one thing as a disqualifier.

 

[CurtisLoew40]

Steveson if he competes enough. Same for Lee. Is there anyone out there that has a legit chance at going undefeated, with a high number of matches (40ish), and a high bonus number? O’Toole is a dark horse considering 165 is stacked but not sure if he can keep his bonus rate up.

I guess if anyone can go undefeated at 125 or HW, not named Lee or Gable, then that person would prolly be a shoe in. I’d hate to see either of those situations happen tho lol

 

[GoHawks1996]

Right. And the other thing about Steveson is that his degree of separation is so much greater, it is tough to look past it. I’ve always taken issue with his sportsmanship on the mat, but he is just so far ahead of everyone talent/skillwise, that it is hard to harp on that one thing as a disqualifier.

If he's the clear leader, I definitely agree that he should win the Hodge, but his questionable sportsmanship and past accusations should've broken the "virtual tie" between him and Spencer IMO.

Spencer is one of the few wrestlers I've ever seen where it seems like the majority of other team's fans root for him as well (except against their guy of course). To me that speaks very highly of the way he carries himself on and off the mat.

 

[Scruddy]

Match totals need to play a very big part in determining who is even eligible for this award imo. 8-0 records on the season should automatically be out of contention.

 

[grapplefann]

My Top 5 picks for responses:

1) GTFOH
2) Your a douche
3) Your a moran
4) I have him on ignore
5) This is all your fault @blcoach80

My thoughts exactly.

 

[NREPP Fraud]

Had him on Ignore under his previous name, thought I'd give him some new rope to hang himself, and here we are. Bye-bye times two. Oh well.

You guys are brutal! 💃💃💃💃🥇🥇

 

[Spoons]

Right now at this particular moment Desanto has to be in the conversation due to amount of matches and bonus pts he has scored. Psu has RBY and Dean that is it right now due to both Starcrap and Brooks being in some closer matches. Lee has not wrestled enough and had some close matches as well. Same could be said for Spencer not wrestling enough and having 1 close match. Gable probably has not wrestled enough as of right now but I don’t think he has been in a close match. So time will tell for him. It’s way early and things could change but other than Desanto, RBY, Dean and Gable nobody has been a bonus pt machine thus far. Carr and Yianni have been in some closer matches as well.

 

[parchy]

Wasn't Dean in a close march with Cornell kid? Like 4-2 if I recall correctly.

 

[NothingMeaningful]

but other than Desanto, RBY, Dean and Gable nobody has been a bonus pt machine thus far. Carr and Yianni have been in some closer matches as well.

There are only four undefeated wrestlers with 100% bonus at this early stage, and only Steveson is on your list. Arujau, LaMont, Steveson, and Parris, none of whom have wrestled very much so far.

Cornell is the reason Dean and Starocci aren't on that list as well.

 

[NREPP Fraud]

Rivera was dominating today in pinning and teching and majoring all his opponents! I’m not saying I’m a Sagacious Prognosticator but that was a pretty dam good ☎️ call!!!!

 

[snotknockerhawk]

Rivera was dominating today in pinning and teching and majoring all his opponents! I’m not saying I’m a Sagacious Prognosticator but that was a pretty dam good ☎️ call!!!!

You expected different?

 

[NREPP Fraud]

You expected different?

I think Rivera was too small for 41 last year! This year, I expect him to tech or major his way to the semis at Nationals! I always thought Spencer Lee and Rivera were the two best collegiate wrestlers! With Lee’s knee problems and the ascension of Daton Fix, and of course, Yianni, who is a tweener at 49! I expect Fix or Rivera to win 🥇 the Hodge this season!