Danny Hodge
Hodge, then aged 80, crushing an apple with one hand at the Oklahoma House of Representatives in May 2013
|
|||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Daniel Allen Hodge | ||||||||||||
| Born |
May 13, 1932 Perry, Oklahoma, U.S. |
||||||||||||
| Residence | Perry, Oklahoma, U.S. | ||||||||||||
|
Medal record
|
|||||||||||||
Daniel Allen "Danny" Hodge (born May 13, 1932) is a retired American wrestler and boxer. He is renowned for his wrestling career, both amateur and professional. He was born and raised in Perry, Oklahoma, where he continues to live. He is famous for the ability to crush apples with one hand, a feat which he demonstrated live on ESPN during the 2006 NCAA Wrestling Championships. He said his strength was due to having double tendons in his hands.
At Perry High School in Oklahoma, Hodge won the 165-pound title at the state tournament in 1951. As a collegiate wrestler for the University of Oklahoma, Hodge was undefeated at 46-0, with 36 pins. He was a three-time Big Seven conference champ at 177 pounds (1955–1957), and won the 177-pound title at the NCAA championships those same three years, pinning all three of his finals opponents. (Hodge is only one of two three-time NCAA Division I champs to have done that, the other being Oklahoma A&M's Earl McCready in 1928–1930.) Hodge was never taken down from a standing position while in college. He is the only amateur wrestler to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated as an amateur wrestler. He worked as a professional wrestler for eighteen years, and was a 5-time USA Tag Team Champion, with Skandor Akbar, among others.
His reputation as a high school wrestler preceded him when he joined the US Navy in 1951. At Ames, Iowa, in April 1952, Hodge survived the US Olympic Trials, and was coached by Naval Academy Instructor Ray Swartz in the 174-pound division. At the Helsinki Olympics, Hodge was defeated by USSR's David Cimakuridze. Going into May 1956 wrestling trials for US Olympic team, Hodge was middleweight favourite. He was eliminated on May 2 by William Smith. Smith was embroiled in controversy with the Central AAU and Hodge was his substitute. After two Olympics appearances, Hodge placed 5th in 1952, and won the Silver Medal in 1956, in Melbourne, Australia after being defeated at the final by Bulgarian Nikola Stanchev.
...
Wikipedia