The 2020 Flo NCAA Award For Freshman Of The Year
The 2020 Flo NCAA Award For Freshman Of The Year
The nominees for the best NCAA D1 freshman of the 2019-20 season.
Nobody got the ending they wanted from the 2019-20 season. Covid-19 canceled the NCAA Championship Tournament, truncating a superb season before it could be properly concluded. But that doesn't mean we can't honor the extraordinary efforts the student-athletes put forth on the mat.
Watch the 2020 FloWrestling NCAA Awards Show Live
Friday, April 24 | 6:00PM ET
We doled out the pre-show awards last week. This week we will be revealing the nominees for the main awards, then announcing the winners Friday night. We hope you'll join us.
The 2020 Nominees for Freshman of the Year
165: Shane Griffith, Stanford
Griffith finished his inaugural varsity season undefeated, earning the number three seed in a stacked bracket. The New Jersey native won the Southern Scuffle, beating Travis Wittlake, the #4 seed at NCAAs, in the semifinals and Tanner Skidgel, the eventual #11 seed, in the finals.
184: Trent Hidlay, North Carolina State
Hoagie Hidlay amassed a 23-4 record in his varsity debut. He was thrice runner-up at major tournaments, placing second at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, the Southern Scuffle, and the ACC Championship. The Pennsylvania native received the #5 seed at the 2020 NCAA Tournament. Hidlay was also one of just two wrestlers to hand the #1 seed, Taylor Lujan, a loss this season.
285: Tony Cassioppi, Iowa
Big Tone provided an anchor for the Hawkeyes, winning 20 of 23 bouts this season. His only losses were to #1 ranked Gable Steveson and #2 Mason Parris. Naturally, Cassioopi was the #3 seed heading to Nationals. The Illinois native was also a Midlands champ, beating All-American Matt Stencel in the finals.
141: Real Woods, Stanford
The second Stanford Cardinal to be nominated, Real Woods was almost as perfect as his teammate Shane, going 19-1 in his first season in the lineup. Woods was won a Southern Scuffle title when he beat Kaden Gfeller in the finals and stopped the Cowboy redshirt sophomore from becoming a three-time Scuffle champ.
149: Sammy Sasso, Ohio State
Slammin Sammy was a middleweight stalwart for the Buckeyes. Sasso sported a 24-3 record going into NCAAs, where he received the #3 seed. Sasso also spent time ranked number this season, after he defeated Brayton Lee and Pat Lugo in the back-to-back dual meets. Sasso is known for his thrilling matches like his tiebreakers win over Yahya Thomas at the Big Ten Championships.
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