Hodge Trophy, Please put Yianni on the card!

[Bigkevsuhr]

So what do you guys think… Can they put Yianni in the Hodge Voting?

Undefeated champs
- Patrick Glory 21-0
- Andrew Alvirez 28-0
- Austin O’Connor 23-0
- Carter Starocci 24-0
- Nino Bonnacorrsi 21-0
- Mason Parris 33-0

Questions and arguments:

Is there too many undefeated champs for Yianni to be on the card?
There are 6 undefeated champs this year that will automatically be put on the voting card. Yianni would be the 7th.
—That isn’t too many as there were 8 on last years card however all 8 were undefeated.

So do you have to be undefeated to win the Hodge?
—Brett Metcalf won a Hodge with one loss and his loss. just like Yiannis was at the beginning of the year (however Metcalf got pinned, Yianni did not).
-In the recent WIN magazine issue (they issue along with Asics the Hodge trophy, and they are in charge of voting)
They specifically said after not including Yianni in the hodge watch
“Yes, Yianni is an amazing wreslter and if he does win a 4th title he may or may not be added to the voting card, depending on how many undefeated champs there are and what criteria they meet.”
So is this their way of setting themselves up to incilude or disclude him? Idk .

Isn’t Past credentials a criteria for the Hodge?
- Not any more it isn’t. Last year a week before NCAAs they changed the criteria for the hodge removing
• pins. • past credentials • heart
and adding • bonus % onto the “dominance criteria.

Well isn’t becoming a 4xer at least a consideration for the Hodge?
- Just like the last question, it used to be in the verbaige right before after the 7 criteria’s.
It said, “if a wrestler is to win 4 ncaa titles. this can be a determining factor in being added to the vote and being voted on.
Last year while changing the criteria, they also removed that sentence.

Is there any undefeated champions out of the 6 who did enough to trump what Yianni did; winning 4 titles but having 1 loss?
•None of the 6 had an absurd bonus % as Gable did last year and Spencer the year prior
•Spencer is out and RBY is out (thanks to the man Vito!)
• None of the 6 knocked off an NCAA champ in the final
•maybe argument for Starocci since he had a 1st period pin in finals. He did have a close 2-1 win over Brands and a couple other 2 or 3 point decisions, so despite his cocky answer to the reporter post semis “who have I had a close match with this year? “ he has.
not saying that he’s been penalized for this I’m just asking is it enough to trump winning 4 titles?
Plus this wasn’t made to make an argument for Yianni winning it, but rather just having him on the damn voting card. If I can only come up with one guy, who did something so significant that maybe he could win over him then certainly he should be added to the card..

Now to be honest, If Vito doesn’t have that one 3-2 loss to Latona, I think he would have won the Hodge Trophy this year as he defeated two previously undefeated wrestlers, one who was a 2x champ with the longest win streak in country, and one who was a 3x finalist.
Unfortunately, I don’t see that being enough for them to forget the loss and add him to the card. Next year it’s his!!

So how do we make enough noise to make sure that they add Yianni to the Hodge Trophy card as yes. he lost one match, but he is a
4x NCAA
4x EIWA champion
115-2 career record
world silver medalist and two time usa team member during his collegiate tenor at Cornell.

[Guillotine]

No matter what they say, you can't ignore past credentials. Also none of the undefeated guys were as dominant as the one guy who was defeated in the semis. I can't see Glory or Alvirez getting it mainly b/c they have only one title and did not beat anybody great in the finals (or really all year). Same with Nino. Carter and Mason seem to be the best candidates. Carter is a 3X champ and very dominant. But did he beat anybody great this year? Did Yianni? Carr might have won it had he not lost in the finals. My guess is Parris or Yianni.

[ugarles]

i was hoping foca might win the sheridan because there weren't a ton of pins from any one guy... until hendrickson went nuts in the medal rounds

[Guillotine]

An Intermat poll has Parris winning by a lot with Yianni and CStar tied for second. https://intermatforums.com/topic/1562-w ... odge-poll/

[charliemunger]

Vito is at another level. Yes, Yianni is great, but destroying Fix and RBY was incredible.

[Hotspur]

Vito is at another level. Yes, Yianni is great, but destroying Fix and RBY was incredible.

Right. Who would've thought?

[ugarles]

Vito is at another level. Yes, Yianni is great, but destroying Fix and RBY was incredible.

convinced more than ever that he was under the weather for the McGee/Latona weekend

[Red95]

I think it all depends on what the award is (of course a topic for endless debate). If it is a "best wrestler" award, then absolutely Yianni should be in consideration for all of the reasons mentioned above. If it is about season dominance then it gets a lot more complicated. In addition to his season-opening loss, Yianni has had a bunch of close calls this season, especially against the top guys at the weight. So while I would love for him to get the recognition, I also wouldn't be too surprised or upset if he didn't. I imagine the 4x NCAA titles, 4x EIWA titles, and all of the other accolades are pretty darn good. Plus, like Vito, he has bigger goals ahead - like adding to his world/olympic hardware.