Iowa’s Lee, Minnesota’s Steveson share wrestling’s top award

<p>Iowa’s Spencer Lee and Minnesota’s Gable Steveson have been named winners of the Dan Hodge Trophy as the most dominant college wrestlers in 2020-21.</p>
<p>The announcement Monday marked the first time in the award’s 20-year history that two wrestlers shared the honor.</p>
<p>Lee won the Hodge last year, and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/wrestling-20f6f122aac431df03ad0ed6e48c6cca">last week he became a three-time NCAA champion at 125 pounds. Steveson won his first heavyweight national title.</a></p>
<p>The winner of the award, presented by WIN magazine, is determined by fan vote and a committee made up of past winners, retired coaches and select media.</p>
<p>Lee overwhelmingly won the fan vote, but the committee overrode the vote and picked co-winners because Lee and Steveson were on nearly equal terms when it came to assessing criteria for the award.</p>
<p>Lee was a 12-0 with five pins, three technical falls and four major decisions. Lee earned bonus points in 92% of his matches. </p>
<p>Steveson was 17-0 with four pins, seven technical falls and three major decisions. He earned bonus points in 88% of his matches and gave up just one takedown.</p>
<p>The trophy is named for the late Dan Hodge, the undefeated three-time NCAA champion for Oklahoma in the 1950s who was known for his aggressiveness and pinning prowess. Hodge, who died in December, never lost and never was taken down as a collegian.</p>
<p>Also receiving first-place votes were Iowa State 157-pounder David Carr and Penn State 133-pounder Roman Bravo-Young, both of whom won national titles.</p>
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