Penn State’s Mitchell Mesenbrink wins 2026 WIN Magazine/Culture House Dan Hodge Trophy presented by ASICS Wrestling

Photo: Mitchell Mesenbrink got his hand raised on Saturday night in Cleveland after earning a tech fall over Iowa’s Michael Caliendo. Photo by Sam Janicki.

By Tristan Warner

NEWTON, Iowa – Long before Mitchell Mesenbrink ever stepped foot in the Penn State wrestling room, he recalls walking past one of longtime club coach and mentor Ben Askren’s Dan Hodge trophies inside the Askren Wrestling Academy (AWA) in his home state of Wisconsin each time he attended a workout.

The two-time Hodge winner Askren (2006, 2007) left one of his Hodges out in the open and accessible to the kids. Over the years, Mesenbrink said, it showed natural signs of wear and tear.

He found himself caught between two voices he respected. His father, John — who coached him and Askren in high school at Arrowhead High in Hartland, Wis. — viewed each Dan Hodge Trophy as something to be protected, handled with care, and as a symbol of the sport’s highest honor. Conversely, Askren, who had earned them, left the trophy at his club within reach of his wrestlers — letting kids hold it, feel its weight and believe in it.

Somewhere in between, the younger Mesenbrink was left to make sense of both.

And now, the two-time NCAA champion will have decide how he wants to handle his own, as Mitchell Mesenbrink has been named the winner of the 2026 WIN Magazine/Culture House Dan Hodge Trophy, presented by ASICS.

The 165-pound standout will be presented the prestigious award at the Penn State wrestling banquet on Sunday, April 12 in State College. Like in past seasons, Mesenbrink will then publicly be presented the award at a Nittany Lion football game this fall. For more information on the Dan Hodge Trophy, visit www.WIN-magazine.com.

“This is a very surreal come-to-fruition moment,” Mesenbrink said. “I’ve always had bonus (points), even throughout high school, but maybe I got overlooked because I never got OW awards. I went all throughout high school without getting one. I would rather have a Dan Hodge Trophy than the ‘Arrowhead Wrestling Invite OW,’ though, so at the end of the day, it was a good trade.

He added, “With judgment awards, it is decided by someone else. I wrestle the way I do so I can take the interpretation out of the ref’s hands. I want to leave no doubt.”

Mesenbrink is one of 41 individual national champions who have won a total of 65 NCAA titles for Penn State. He becomes the sixth different Nittany Lion to win the Hodge, bringing the program’s total to eight in its history. The junior won by a substantial margin, as he got 61 out of 65 first-place votes, with Oklahoma State’s freshman Jax Forrest (133) earning four and fellow Nittany Lion Josh Barr (197) acquiring one. The Hodge Trophy Voting Committee is comprised of a retired college coach from each region of the country, the heads of each of national wrestling organization, select national media members and past Hodge winners.

Mesenbrink also won the official Hodge Fan Vote, receiving 20,046 votes (67.6%) out of the total 29,637 verified fan votes that were cast online March 23-27. Forrest finished second in the fan vote with 3,689 (12.84%), while Oklahoma State’s Sergio Vega (141, also a freshman) finished third with 2,126 (7.2%). The fan-vote winner got an additional five first-place votes, bringing Mesenbrink’s first-place vote total to 66.

“We are really excited for Mitchell,” said Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson, a three-time Hodge winner himself for Iowa State (2000-2002). “He scored a lot of points this year. He has continued to get a lot better. Our guys come to the national tournament and there is high pressure and expectations on them. When you’re expected to win and continue to dominate and separate yourself, it carries some weight.”

Sanderson, pleased by the way Mesenbrink continues to wrestle freely while trying to score as many points as possible, was impressed by the way he worked to improve his top game over the offseason.

“He has worked on the mat a lot with Coach Cunningham; you could see the effort he put in on top. That really stands out. He continues to seek to improve. This year he added to his top game. He is trying to score at all times from all positions. That is not an easy thing to do; it (improving top scoring) is hard to make that adjustment in college.”

Founded in 1995 by Mike Chapman, the creator of WIN Magazine, and sponsored by ASICS, the Dan Hodge Trophy is awarded to the most dominant wrestler each year by WIN and Chapman’s company Culture House. The late Dan Hodge was an undefeated three-time NCAA champion at 177 pounds for the University of Oklahoma. He was never taken down in his collegiate career and is the only wrestler to ever appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated (April 1, 1957).

“When I created the Dan Hodge Trophy, the three main goals were to reward domination, give college wrestlers something extra to shoot for, and stimulate more media attention. I am pleased to welcome Mitchell into this elite circle of winners. He is one of the most impressive college wrestlers I have ever seen and as a longtime friend and confidant of Dan Hodge, I know Dan would feel the same way,” Chapman said.

WIN Publisher Bryan Van Kley said for Mesenbrink to win the Hodge in a year where a number of wrestlers were extremely dominant makes it even more impressive.

“Congratulations to Mitchell, his family and Penn State for him winning the Hodge. His level of domination at the college level has been impressive for some time now. However, to improve as a pinner so greatly over this past year and to only have one opponent all season keep him from scoring bonus points was incredible.”

Criteria for the Hodge includes a wrestler’s record, dominance/bonus-point percentage, quality of competition and sportsmanship.

Mesenbrink finished his redshirt junior campaign with a 27-0 record. He had eight pins, 11 tech falls, six major decisions and one victory via forfeit for a 96.3% bonus rate.

On his way to the top of the podium, Mesenbrink racked up 17 wins over the wrestlers in the field at the 2026 NCAA Championships. Nine of those wins came against the other seven who would go on to earn All-American status at 165. He earned three tech falls and five majors against those fellow All-Americans, which included tech-fall victories in the NCAA semis (over Columbia’s Cesar Alvan) and finals (over Iowa’s Michael Caliendo). His lone regular-decision victory came in the NCAA quarters against eventual seventh-place finisher Bryce Hepner of North Carolina, 6-0.

“I cannot stand watching wrestling when it is boring,” Mesenbrink said. “People want to be entertained. I don’t want to wrestle in a way where I would get up and leave as the viewer.

“I don’t want to wonder or be left with regret about what if I would have went harder or tried to shoot more or tried a little harder on top or bottom. That is how I want to live the rest of my life. If you work as hard as you can and there’s nothing left to wonder, you can sleep at night even if you don’t get what you wanted.”

John echoed some of his son’s own comments about turning the sport into a problem-solving challenge while also having passions outside of wrestling to help keep things in healthy perspective.

“For Mitchell, he had to remove his focus from dominating to making improvements instead,” John said. “It is like, ‘Here are some things that went wrong, so I need to be an elite problem solver. How do I fix it and turn it into action?’ Be relentless about making improvements. He has done that since he was little.

“It is important to have other things, too. As you go, you can see and be cognizant of what you need to focus on more or less. Mitchell’s love for music, art and psychology bring peace to him; they allow him to really enjoy the sport. It is about balance. Not one of those things is a life-and-death situation.”

Sanderson highlighted Penn State’s latest Dan Hodge Trophy recipient’s faith, attitude and mature outlook on life as some of the main catalysts for his success on and off the mats.

“Mitchell loves philosophy. I’ve taken some pictures of him reading books in the bleachers. He is a very thoughtful, smart and faithful kid. His perspective is very strong and optimistic. He is inquisitive and is always trying to learn and understand why things are the way they are.”

Mesenbrink credits the losses to David Carr at last June’s Final X in Newark, N.J. as an invaluable episode of adversity in his quest to become the best version of himself.

“Aaron Brooks told me God enables and disables. That day went exactly as it needed to for me to be able to stand here today and know what matters to me. I was trying to fill an eternal hole in my heart and soul with something that will never fill it.

“Every wrestler can relate to the, ‘I-need-this-or-else’ feeling, and I had been living like that for years. I made a very barren prison in my mind. Going out before that finals match (against Caliendo), I really was just aware that I wanted to enjoy it and that was all. It sometimes takes achieving the goal to realize the goal was not the thing to be obtained.”

As for the legacy Mesenbrink hopes to leave on the Penn State program and the college wrestling landscape in general … well, he was very adamant he is not focused on a legacy at all.

“If you are focusing on your legacy, you are so far off from the right things. Legacy isn’t your fame; it is your faith. People think they get to determine their own legacy. In a way, you are a culmination of the choices you make, but it is a much bigger thing. Did I move in love and gratitude? What will people say about me at my funeral?

“It is the same thing with this trophy. I am so very grateful for the wrestling world to think I am the person to receive it, but at the end of the day, this trophy, just like everything else, will collect dust and might have some arms snapped off of it. It is about what you gave.”

All-Time Dan Hodge Trophy Winners

About the Dan Hodge Trophy:

The Hodge was created in 1994 by former WIN Publisher Mike Chapman and named after the late three-time NCAA champion (1955-57) from the University of Oklahoma, who is still the only wrestler ever to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Hodge never allowed a takedown in his college career. He also pinned 36 of his 46 victims.

The WIN Magazine/Culture House Dan Hodge Trophy, presented by ASICS, is considered the Heisman Trophy for amateur wrestling and has been presented to the nation’s most dominant wrestler since 1995.

In addition to former Hodge Trophy winners, a retired coach from each region and national media members make up the voting committee, while wrestling fans were once again part of the Hodge voting process as well.

Hodge Criteria:

1 – Record

2 – Dominance/Bonus-Point Percentage

3 – Quality of Competition

4 – Sportsmanship