FloWrestling's Second Official Hodge Rankings Of The 2018-19 Season

FloWrestling's Second Official Hodge Rankings Of The 2018-19 Season

FloWrestling brings you its second official Hodge rankings of the 2018-19 season.

Jan 7, 2019 by Wrestling Nomad
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Now that Midlands and the Southern Scuffle are in our rearview, we've got quite a bit of data on this season. Which means we've got quite a bit of data on this year's Hodge contenders.

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Now that Midlands and the Southern Scuffle are in our rearview, we've got quite a bit of data on this season. Which means we've got quite a bit of data on this year's Hodge contenders.

Given that there's still seven more weeks of duals in the regular season, a lot of projection was used to determine our Hodge rankings. Spoiler alert though, there's a lot of Penn State at the top.

Before we go any further, here once again are the criteria for wrestling’s version of the Heisman Trophy:

  1. Record
  2. Number of pins
  3. Dominance
  4. Past credentials
  5. Quality of competition
  6. Sportsmanship/citizenship
  7. Heart

In my writing here and going forward, I'm going to tell you how I'm looking at these criteria. Record's pretty straight forward: don't lose. I don't like "number of pins" as much as pin percentage, so that's what I'm using. Dominance includes bonus percentage, dominance score and average time spent on the mat. Past credentials always weights toward national titles, hence the top three on this list being way out in front of the pack. Quality of competition is hard to determine until after NCAAs, but I usually break it down into All-Americans and national qualifiers. Everyone ties in the last two categories in my book, get over it.

RankNameSchoolRecordBonus
1Bo NickalPenn State12-0100%
2Jason NolfPenn State13-0100%
3Vincenzo JosephPenn State13-085%
4Mark HallPenn State13-054%
5Myles MartinOhio State8-075%
6Yianni DiakomihalisCornell10-090%
7Nick SurianoRutgers13-077%
8Anthony AshnaultRutgers13-085%
9Sebastian RiveraNorthwestern14-071%
10Gable StevesonMinnesota20-055%

Now let's dig into each candidate a little deeper. As you can see, I only gave out one spot per weight, which only really affects the first four weights right now, and all of them are in the lower half of these rankings.

1) Bo Nickal, Penn State: SR 197

Since the last time we ran this, all Nickal's done is win the Southern Scuffle, increase his winning streak to 50 straight and gotten nothing but pins in the process. He's got nine pins in 12 matches, is averaging just under 2:55 on the mat and, oh yeah, my good friend Mark Bader brought this to our attention:

2) Jason Nolf, Penn State: SR 157

Notably, he now holds Penn State's career record for pins. With all due respect to Nolf and the incredible things he has done to push our sport though, right now the Hodge is Nickal's to lose. However, Nolf does have nine pins in 13 matches and is also in a weight that, like 197, is considered one of the weaker ones across the board nationally. However, he can pick up a big feather in his cap this weekend if he steamrolls #2 Ryan Deakin in Evanston on Friday night.

Watch Penn State at Northwestern LIVE on Flo

Friday, Jan. 11 | 7 p.m. CT

3) Vincenzo Joseph, Penn State: JR 165

Cenzo is keeping pace with Nickal and Nolf in terms of pins, but no longer has a 100% bonus rate thanks to some tough scraps with Chance Marsteller and Shane Griffith at the Scuffle. However, he has notched quality wins over All-Americans Josh Shields and Marsteller, something they have yet to do. This Sunday, Joseph will get another opportunity when #3 Evan Wick comes to Happy Valley.

Watch Wisconsin at Penn State LIVE on Flo

Sunday, Jan. 13 | 1 p.m. ET

4) Mark Hall, Penn State: JR 174

With Spencer Lee losing, Cenzo moved up two spots and Hall swapped positions with Zahid after beating him in the dual. Marky's been less dominant than Joseph and has one fewer title, so that's why he's here. But he's also got these 12-point bucks hanging on his wall: Zahid, Jordan Kutler and Joseph Smith. What's hurting him is two decisions over unranked Matt Finesilver, as well as one against unranked Neal Richards. He's also got just three pins on the year, a third as many as Nickal and Nolf.

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5) Myles Martin, Ohio State: SR 184

With Seth Gross still only having wrestled one match, Martin gets a bump. Unless he loses, it's going to be very hard for those behind him to catch up due to Myles being a three-time AA with a title and a finals appearance. He's only got one pin, but is averaging over 16 points per match otherwise, and might be the most fun guy to watch from neutral right now.

6) Yianni Diakomihalis, Cornell: SO 141

Yianni's case gets dinged by his lack of a major tournament titles this year. Although he's already beaten Jaydin Eierman and will see #2 Joey McKenna in the final dual of the season, he'll otherwise avoid pretty much the entirety of the top 10. Not his fault obviously, just Cornell's schedule does him no favors in this regard.

7) Nick Suriano, Rutgers: JR 133

As I mentioned, Gross has been removed due to inactivity. That left me with a decision between CKLV champ Suriano and Scuffle champ Daton Fix. Neither is a big pinner, with both only having one so far against D1 competition. But Suriano has a national finals appearance, so he gets the edge for now. Luckily, we'll get to see them wrestle each other this Sunday for the first time since their unforgettable 45-minute grind match at Who's #1 in 2015.

Watch Oklahoma State at Rutgers Live on Flo

Sunday, Jan. 13 | 1 p.m. ET

8) Anthony Ashnault, Rutgers: SR 149

Princeton fans won't be happy, but I've got Ashnault ahead of Kolodzik again. He's got five pins against D1 guys to Kolodzik's zero, as well as a win over #3 Micah Jordan. But the Tiger will get his shot Feb. 3, and there's a very good chance both stay undefeated heading into that one.

9) Sebastian Rivera, Northwestern: SO 125

The biggest win of the season happened last Sunday night in the Midlands finals when Rivera took out Spencer Lee. The NCAA champ will have as many as three opportunities to get revenge against Rivera, but that's the same number of chances Rivera has to prove his win wasn't a fluke. You can check out coach Cody Brewer mic'd up for the win over Lee here.

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10) Gable Steveson, Minnesota: FR 285

The true freshman is at an even 20-0 with 11 bonus point wins, three of which are pins. He seems to be the overwhelming favorite to win heavyweight at this point, but unless everyone else loses he's going to have a hard time claiming the Hodge with no prior accomplishments.