Logan Stieber takes home the Hodge Trophy as best collegiate wrestler

Patrick Kalista
Tue, 31 Mar 2015 01:58:47 +0000
Sports, Wrestling, Buckeyes, Hodge Trophy, logan stieber, Ohio State wrestling

Redshirt-senior Logan Stieber reacts after winning his 4th consecutive NCAA title by beating Edinboro’s Mitchell Port in the 141-pound championship match during the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on March 21 in St. Louis.
Credit: Courtesy of TNS

The Heisman Trophy of the wrestling world was announced on Monday and Ohio State’s redshirt-senior Logan Stieber took home the hardware.

Stieber was awarded the Dan Hodge Trophy after finishing a collegiate career that saw him become just the fourth wrestler to win four national championships. He also led the Buckeyes to their first-ever team national title this season.

With a 119-3 record, including a 29-0 stint as a senior, the Monroeville, Ohio, native said the award given by WinMagazine and The Culture House was something he’s always wanted to win.

“Growing up, the first college match I saw was Cael Sanderson winning his fourth title,” Stieber said in a press release. “I knew the Hodge Trophy was the biggest and best award so I wanted to win it. To now be in that group is very humbling and I’m proud to have won it.”

Criteria for the award includes a wrestler’s record, number of pins, dominance on the mat, past credentials, quality of competition as well as sportsmanship and citizenship.

Stieber finished his senior campaign with 22 of his 29 wins coming via bonus points, including 10 pins, eight technical falls and four major decisions.

Tom Ryan, who has coached Stieber at OSU for four years, said he believed his wrestler could accomplish all he has and didn’t expect otherwise.

“As soon as last season ended, I met with him,” Ryan said in the release. “We discussed that the pinnacle of the sport would be to win four titles, winning the Hodge and winning the national team championship. Those were the three things we discussed. The fact that he led the team to a title, won his fourth and now won the Hodge is an awesome end to his career.”

Stieber is the second wrestler to win the Junior Hodge Trophy, which is given to the top high school wrestler in the country, as well as the Hodge Trophy. Stieber was a four-time Ohio State champion in high school before heading to OSU.

The Hodge Trophy was first given in 1995 and is named after Dan Hodge, a former wrestler who went 46-0 in his college career and was a three-time NCAA champion at the University of Oklahoma.

Stieber is also the first Buckeye to win four Big Ten titles. His first two NCAA titles came at 133 pounds in 2012 and 2013 and a third at 141 pounds in 2014.

Stieber was also named the NCAA’s Most Dominant Wrestler and the NWCA Most Outstanding Wrestler this season.