So, is Jason Nolf the best DI wrestler to never win the Hodge?

[MSU158 1,479]

This is 2 years now where I argued he deserved it, to only lose out to a teammate.  He had a career bonus rate of 85%.   Dismissing the injury default loss, he didn't lose his last 3 seasons and his bonus rate would probably have been 90+, as he essentially came back to win a Championship on one leg.

I get it.  Nickal had the flare and his FALL over Martin last season  carried that persona right into this season.  However, when looking at the stats for this season, they are nearly identical and Nolf wrestled way tougher in conference opponents and I do believe his entire weight class was much deeper.

I doubt Nolf is going to lose any sleep over it, but he SHOULD have at least 1 Hodge between his sophomore and senior seasons!

Edited April 1, 2019 by MSU158

[pennsyrules 209]

Can't disagree.  Wonder if the close match with Hidlay made any difference to voters.  Had to slighly.

[MSU158 1,479]

Just now, pennsyrules said:

Can't disagree.  Wonder if the close match with Hidlay made any difference to voters.  Had to slighly.

Recency bias.  Nickal beat Schultz, a guy that lost in the R16, 8-6 during the season.  Granted, that match was really never in doubt.  But, 8-6 against a guy at that level should hold more sway than a tough semifinal match against a guy who had 3 career losses at that point, one of which was to Nolf, in last year's Finals......

[yonz_g 64]

2 minutes ago, MSU158 said:

This is 2 years now where I argued he deserved it, to only lose out to a teammate.  He had a career bonus rate of 85%.   Dismissing the injury default loss, he didn't lose his last 3 seasons and his bonus rate would probably have been 90+, as he essentially came back to win a Championship on one leg.

I get it.  Nickal had the flare and his FALL over Martin last season  carried that persona right into this season.  However, when looking at the stats for this season, they are nearly identical and Nolf wrestled way tougher in conference opponents and I do believe his entire weight class was much deeper.

I doubt Nolf is going to lose any sleep over it, but he SHOULD have at least 1 Hodge between his sophomore and senior seasons!

Definitely agree. Nolf and Ruth are probably neck and neck in this category. Unfortunately, both had phenomenal teammates. 

[Creek chub 175]

If not the best to never win, he was certainly the funnest and most exciting wrestler I’ve ever watched. I only got to see him live once against VT his redshirt freshman year. Brascetta who was a bad dude couldn’t beat him, so you could tell he was gonna be a special wrestler 

[Jimmy Cinnabon 218]

Ed Ruth?

[steamboat_charlie v2 939]

34 minutes ago, MSU158 said:

Recency bias.  Nickal beat Schultz, a guy that lost in the R16, 8-6 during the season.  Granted, that match was really never in doubt.  But, 8-6 against a guy at that level should hold more sway than a tough semifinal match against a guy who had 3 career losses at that point, one of which was to Nolf, in last year's Finals......

Definitely a big factor.  There is at least some segment of the wrestling community that thinks Nolf deserved to lose that match, whereas Nickal was untested.  

[BigTenFanboy 1,695]

44 minutes ago, pennsyrules said:

Can't disagree.  Wonder if the close match with Hidlay made any difference to voters.  Had to slighly.

I think this was the big differentiator. 

[Alwayswrestling 180]

6 minutes ago, steamboat_charlie v2 said:

Definitely a big factor.  There is at least some segment of the wrestling community that thinks Nolf deserved to lose that match, whereas Nickal was untested.  

I don't know if "deserved to lose" is accurate as much as I thought he lost that match.

[Perry 1,175]

Cox was a 2 time world medalist 3x champ with wins over 2 former hodge winners in dake and Taylor. He was leaps and bounds above nolf despite having more "close" matches

[yonz_g 64]

2 minutes ago, Perry said:

Cox was a 2 time world medalist 3x champ with wins over 2 former hodge winners in dake and Taylor. He was leaps and bounds above nolf despite having more "close" matches

True, but freestyle isn't taken into account in the Hodge count.

[Jimmy Cinnabon 218]

Kyle Snyder?

[GoNotQuietly 829]

Stephen Abas never won a Hodge. Got Caeled

[headshuck 2,142]

Retherford didn’t need two.

[Crash 138]

No


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[AKHUNTER 283]

I love Nolf as a wrestler............ BUT even he knows he lost that semi match. Life can be strange at times.

[TBar1977 3,689]

Yeah, I think Jason Nolf probably is the best to never win it. The only guy he ever lost to was a 2x champ and that happened in his freshman year, and they were razor thin losses at that. He is better than many winners, that's for sure. 

[russelscout 1,573]

Joe and/or TJ Williams. Varner. Mcilravy. Not making an arguement for the best, just lots of good guys have not won the hodge.

Edited April 1, 2019 by russelscout

[Dr. Novak 147]

1 hour ago, Creek chub said:

f not the best to never win, he was certainly the funnest and most exciting wrestler

The most fun...funnest hurts just looking at it.

[Ogalthorpe Haywood 303]

54 minutes ago, Perry said:

Cox was a 2 time world medalist 3x champ with wins over 2 former hodge winners in dake and Taylor. He was leaps and bounds above nolf despite having more "close" matches

All that happened after college. The Hodge is a college award, Cox was a 3x champ but not nearly as dominant as Nolf. 

[Eagle26 412]

Have to agree... the award could have easily been split between him and Retherford last year and him and Nickal this year. I do think his semi hurt him this year, but he still deserved it based on his quality of wins. Seems odd that Nickal gets rewarded for having lesser competition. There have been a lot of great wrestlers to never win it but I don’t think any quite as dominant as him. Ed Ruth is close who ironically also lost out to a teammate 

[tightwaist 388]

2 hours ago, GoNotQuietly said:

Stephen Abas never won a Hodge. Got Caeled

Abas’ challenge was that he could dominate in a controlling, and sometimes not super exciting fashion.  Similar to Dake.  And yes, wrestling in the Cael era was tough to compete against.  

[Perry 1,175]

That is incorrect, Haywood. He was an Olympic bronze medalist and world bronze before he won his 3rd NCAA title. He then went on to win world gold after college. The question wasnt who was the most deserving of a hodge and never received it, it was who was the best. Cox had closer matches but his talent level was a big notch above nolf's this year

 

Edit, he may have won his second bronze right after NCAA senior year (can't remember) but he was definitely an Olympic bronze before his senior year and at the very least had beaten Kyle dake twice

Edited April 2, 2019 by Perry

[Lurker 1,306]

Snyder is the best to never win it, although maybe not most deserving because of his schedule. Moving up to take out what many considered the best heavyweight ever at the time, and nobody else came close to him. His junior year nobody came close to him. His senior year obviously he wasn’t deserving with a loss. But as far as “best to never win it”. Snyder takes it. 

[TobusRex 1,817]

42 minutes ago, Lurker said:

Snyder is the best to never win it, although maybe not most deserving because of his schedule. Moving up to take out what many considered the best heavyweight ever at the time, and nobody else came close to him. His junior year nobody came close to him. His senior year obviously he wasn’t deserving with a loss. But as far as “best to never win it”. Snyder takes it. 

I thought the whole point of the Hodge was falls, not TECH falls. That rules Snyder out immediately.