Zain Retherford

Retherford in 2018
Personal information
Full name	Zain Allen Retherford
Born	(1995-05-21) May 21, 1995 (age 28) Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S.
Home town	Benton, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Height	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight	65 kg (143 lb)
Sport
Country	United States
Sport	Wrestling
Event(s)	Freestyle and Folkstyle
College team	Nittany Lions
Club	Nittany Lion Wrestling Club
Coached by	Cael Sanderson
Medal record Men's freestyle wrestling Representing the   United States World Championships 2023 Belgrade 70 kg 2022 Belgrade 70 kg World Cup 2019 Yakutsk Team Pan American Championships 2023 Buenos Aires 70 kg Cadet World Championships 2012 Baku 63 kg Collegiate Wrestling Representing the Penn State Nittany Lions NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships 2016 New York 149 lb 2017 St. Louis 149 lb 2018 Cleveland 149 lb Big Ten Championships 2016 Iowa City 149 lb 2017 Bloomington 149 lb 2018 East Lansing 149 lb 2014 Madison 141 lb

Zain Allen Retherford (born May 21, 1995) is an American freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler who competes at 70 kilograms. ^[1] In freestyle, he is a gold and silver medalist at the World Championships, as well as a Pan-American champion. ^[2]

One of the most successful Penn State Nittany Lion wrestlers of all time, Retherford was a two-time Dan Hodge Trophy winner and a three-time NCAA Division I National champion. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

Early life and education

Retherford was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Early in life, he moved to Benton, Pennsylvania. He attended Line Mountain Jr./Sr. High School, where he won a state wrestling title as a freshman and took third place as a sophomore. He went on to compile a record of 84–3 before moving to Benton High School in his junior year. As a result of the move, Retherford was declared unable to compete the 2011-12 season. Russ Hughes, his high school coach, states that it was in this time when Retherford started to really focus and grow as a wrestler. As a senior, he compiled an unbeaten record of 47–0 and collected his second Pennsylvania state title. After the season, he became a Cadet World Champion in freestyle at 65-kilograms.

Retherford graduated from high school with a 131–3 record and two PIAA state titles. ^{[6] [7]}

College career

Retherford was considered the #3 recruit in the country in 2012. He committed to the Nittany Lions at Penn State University. ^{[8] [9]}

2013-14

Retherford had incredible success as a true freshman, going 27–0 in regular season. He made his way to the Big Ten Conference finals to face defending NCAA champion (eventual four-timer) Logan Stieber, whom he lost to by 4 points, making him the runner-up of the tournament. ^[10] At the NCAA championships, Retherford defeated an unseeded opponent in the first round and also the eleventh and fourteenth seeds before losing to the second-seeded Logan Stieber once again. After losing in the semifinals, he faced and lost to top-seeded Mitchell Port in the consolation semis, ending his run at the tournament and placing fifth, which earned him All-American status. ^[11]

2014-15

In this season, Retherford chose to redshirt to focus on training and freestyle, placing second at the Junior World Team Trials and fourth at the 2015 Dave Schultz Memorial International. ^{[12] [13]}

2015-16

As a sophomore, Retherford moved up to 149-pounds and closed the regular season undefeated with a 26–0 record before the Big Ten's. At the tournament, he defeated the eight and fifth seeds to make his way to the finale. where he downed second-seeded Brandon Sorensen to win the championship. At the NCAA's, he dominated with a technical fall (21-6) to start the tournament, accumulated 3 pins in a row and a major in the finals to close the tournament and claim his first NCAA title. He was named the year's NCAA Most Dominant Wrestler, Penn State Male Athlete of the Year, Big Ten Wrestler of the Year, ^[14] and received the 2016 Wade Schalles Award for best collegiate pinner. ^[15]

2016-17

In his junior year, he continued to establish dominance, staying in the top-spot of the division through the regular season. At the Big Ten Championships he downed four opponents with three falls and a technical fall (16-1) to become a two-time Big Ten Champion. At the NCAA Championships, he went 5–0 with four technical falls and a pin at the tournament to claim his second-straight NCAA Championship, making him the seventh Nittany Lion to do so. Due to his efforts, he was named the NCAA and Big Ten Championships Outstanding Wrestler. He ended the season with a 28–0 mark with seventeen pins, seven techs and a major, near to a 90 percent of bonus points in matches.

He then earned the Dan Hodge Trophy award as the most dominant wrestler in NCAA Division I along with that year's NCAA Most Dominant Wrestler and Wade Schalles Award winner ^[16] for the second time in a row. ^[14]

2017-18

As a senior, he remained unbeaten at 149-pounds with a 31–0 record. At the Big Ten's, he defeated three ranked wrestlers with two majors and one decision by points to claim his third-straight B1G Championship. At the NCAA Championships, he opened up with a tech (16-1) and a pin before another tech (20-2) in the quarterfinals. In his next two matches he won by decision (10-4 and 6-2), claiming his third-straight NCAA title.

After the season, he became only the fourth person to be awarded the prestigious Dan Hodge Trophy twice. He was also named NCAA Most Dominant Wrestler for the third straight time and Big Ten Wrestler of the Year for the second time. In his four seasons at PSU, he graduated with a 128–3 record (all of his losses coming as a freshman). ^[17]

Overall, Retherford is a two-time Dan Hodge Trophy winner, three-time NCAA Champion, four-time All-American, three-time Big Ten Champion and four-time Big Ten finalist. ^[18]

Freestyle career

As a cadet and a junior, Retherford already had prestigious freestyle accomplishments; Cadet World and National champion and three-time Junior National runner-up. ^[18]

2015

At the Dave Schultz Memorial, Retherford lost to Jordan Oliver in the quarterfinals (2-6). In the repechage matches, he made his way to the third place match by beating Evan Henderson (10-7), Borislav Novachkov (injury default) and Murad Nukhadiev (9-2). In the bronze-medal match, he faced Andrey Kviatkovski, whom he lost to (4-8), placing fourth in his first competition as a senior. ^[19]

2016

At the US Olympic Team Trials, Retherford defeated James Green (9-2) in the preliminary match and advanced to the quarterfinals, where he faced Logan Stieber, whom he lost to (6-8). In the repechage matches, he downed Jason Chamberlain (7-2), Jayson Ness (6-3) and Jimmy Kennedy (2-2) to place third in the tournament. ^[20]

2017

At the US Open, Retherford placed third after losing to Jordan Oliver in the semifinals, qualifying for the World Team Trials Tournament. He won the Challenge Tournament and went on to face Frank Molinaro at the wrestle-offs. He won the 2-out-of-3 matches, losing the first one (6-7) and dominantly winning the other two (6-0, 7-4). ^{[21] [22]}

Retherford competed at the Spain Grand Prix before the World Championships. He dominated his opponents, not getting scored a single point and winning all of his matches (4-0, TF 11–0, 6–0, TF 10-0). ^[23]

At the World Championships, Retherford teched (10-0) David Habat in the opening match but subsequently lost to Adam Batirov (4-6), getting eliminated and placing eleventh. ^[24]

2019

At the Ivan Yarygin Golden Grand Prix, he lost in the opening bout to Gadzhimurad Rashidov (3-4) and got eliminated, placing eighth. ^[25]

At the US Open, he downed 5 opponents before losing to Yianni Diakomihalis in the finals, this qualified him for the World Team Trials. ^[26] At the Challenge Tournament, he defeated Dean Heil, Frank Molinaro and Jordan Oliver twice before competing at Final X: Rutgers against Yianni Diakomihalis. ^[27] In the first match, Retherford beat Diakomihalis 10–4. The second match ended with a lot on controversy; Retherford was down 4-6 when he got a takedown for two points, Diakomihalis ended up earning two more to apparently win the match 8–6, however, there were problems with the scoring and that led to the match being scored 6–6 with an advantage on criteria to Retherford, winning the match and the Final X series. ^{[27] [28]}

He once again faced Yianni Diakomihalis in the qualification round of the Grand Prix Yaşar Doğu. He lost the match by points (9-5). ^[29] He was then scheduled to compete at the Pan American Games, however, he was forced to pull out a week before the event and was replaced by Jaydin Eierman. ^[30]

Due to the past controversy at Final X: Rutgers, Retherford faced Diakomihalis for the fifth time in their freestyle career in a wrestle-off called Final X: Yianni vs. Zain to determine who was going to represent the United States at the World Championships. ^[31] He defeated Diakomihalis by two points to one. ^[27]

Retherford competed at the World Championships weeks after his wrestle-off. He lost a close bout in the first round against Alejandro Valdés (9-10) and was eliminated, placing twenty-sixth. ^[32]

Retherford competed at the Alan International in Russia. He downed Inar Kettia and Iulian Gergenov (TF 13–2, TF 11-0) prior to losing to Saiyn Kazyryk (4-6), placing seventh. ^[33]

In his last tournament of 2019, he competed at the prestigious World Cup, where he ended up undefeated at 65 kilograms with four victories, claiming the individual World Cup championship and helping Team USA win the team bronze-medal. ^[34]

2020

In his first competition of the year, Retherford competed at the Matteo Pellicone RS. He faced Bajrang Punia, whom he lost a close decision (4-5) in the opening round. He went on to place third as he beat Joey McKenna (10-5) and pinned Vasyl Shuptar in the repechage matches. ^[35]

In an attempt to make his way to the Olympics, Retherford competed at the Pan American Olympic Qualification Tournament. He started strong, winning by technical superiority (10-0) in both of his first two bouts. In the semifinals, he faced Agustín Destribats. Retherford took him down early, however, Destribats was able to adjust and worked his way to the victory by fall, being the first wrestler to get the win in that fashion against Retherford in freestyle competition. In the third-place match, he faced Álbaro Rudesindo, whom he pinned. ^[36]

Retherford was scheduled to compete at the 2020 US Olympic Team Trials on April 4 at State College, Pennsylvania. ^[37] However, the event was postponed for 2021 along with the Summer Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving all the qualifiers unable to compete. ^[38]

After six months without being able to compete, Retherford returned to the mats against three–time NCAA Division I All-American Alec Pantaleo on September 19 at the NLWC I, ^[39] whom he outscored 3 points to 2. ^[40] He then won by technical fall against three–time US National Champion and World Team Member Reece Humphrey on November 24, at the NLWC III. ^[41] Retherford avenged his loss to Bajrang Punia at the Matteo Pellicone, when he flawlessly defeated him 6–0 at the NLWC IV of December 22. ^[42]

2021

To start off the year, Retherford defeated Evan Henderson in February at the NLWC V. ^[43] Retherford competed at the rescheduled 2020 US Olympic Team Trials from April 2 to 3 as the top–seed in an attempt of representing the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics. ^[44] He knocked off two–time Pan American Continental champion and 2019 NCAA champion Anthony Ashnault in the first round, but was unexpectedly upset by 2018 US Open champion Joey McKenna by decision. ^[45] He lost his consolation match against 2021 NCAA champion from Penn State Nick Lee, failing to place. ^[46]

Retherford bulked up to 70 kilograms for a comeback at the 2021 US World Team Trials on September 11–12, intending to represent the country at the World Championships. ^[47] After losing in the first round in the hands of Jordan Oliver, Retherford made his way to a third-place finish. ^[48] He is also a Senior Freestyle World Silver Medalist (70 kg; 2022). ^{[49] [50]} 2023 He won the gold medal in the 70 kg weight class at the 2023 World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade. He defeated Iranian wrestler Amir Mohammad Yazdani 8:5 in the final bout. ^[51]

Freestyle record

Senior Freestyle Matches
Res.	Record	Opponent	Score	Date	Event	Location
2024 US Olympic Team Trials at 65 kg
Win	80–17	Nick Lee	5–0	April 20, 2024	2024 US Olympic Team Trials	State College, Pennsylvania
Win	79–17	Nick Lee	2–1
Win	78–17	Jesse Mendez	3–2	April 19, 2024
2023 World Championships at 70 kg
Win	77–17	Amir Mohammad Yazdani	8–5	September 16–17, 2023	2023 World Championships	Belgrade, Serbia
Win	76–17	Arman Andreasyan	7–0
Win	75–17	Abhimanyu	9–2
Win	74–17	Mustafo Akhmedov	4–0
2023 Pan American Championships at 70 kg
Win	73–17	Connor Quinton	Fall	May 3–7, 2023	2023 Pan American Continental Championships	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Win	72–17	Vinicius Joaquim	TF 12–2
Win	71–17	Francisco Velazquez	TF 10–0
Win	70–17	Mauricio Lovera	Fall
2023 US World Team Trials at 70 kg
Win	69–17	Tyler Berger	4–3	June 10, 2023	2023 Final X: Newark	Newark, New Jersey
Win	68–17	Tyler Berger	11–2
2022 World Championships at 70 kg
Loss	67–17	Taishi Narikuni	TF 0–10	September 15–16, 2022	2022 World Championships	Belgrade, Serbia
Win	67–16	Zurabi Iakobishvili	7–0
Win	66–16	Arman Andreasyan	5–0
Win	65–16	Marc Dietsche	Fall
Win	64–16	Kevin Henkel	TF 10–0
2022 Tunis Ranking Series at 70 kg
Win	63–16	Syrbaz Talgat	TF 10–0	July 18, 2022	2022 Tunis Ranking Series	Tunis, Tunisia
Win	62–16	Kossai Ajimi	TF 11–0
Win	61–16	Karan Mor	Fall
Win		Haydar Yavuz	INJ
Win	60–16	Sanzhar Kozhanov	Fall
2022 US World Team Trials at 70 kg
Win	59–16	Jordan Oliver	4–3	June 3, 2022	2022 Final X: Stillwater	Stillwater, Oklahoma
Loss	58–16	Jordan Oliver	4–5
Win	58–15	Jordan Oliver	8–3
Win	57–15	Alec Pantaleo	5–2	May 21–22, 2022	2022 US World Team Trials Challenge Tournament	Coralville, Iowa
Win	56–15	Doug Zapf	4–1
2022 Dan Kolov & Nikola Petrov at 70 kg
Win	55–15	Ramazan Ramazanov	10–6	February 17–20, 2022	2022 Dan Kolov & Nikola Petrov Tournament	Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria
Win	54–15	Yehor Muradyan	Fall
Win	53–15	Marc Dietsche	TF 12–2
Win	52–15	Ivan Stoyanov	8–0
2021 US World Team Trials at 70 kg
Win	51–15	Tyler Berger	TF 11–0	September 11–12, 2021	2021 US World Team Trials	Lincoln, Nebraska
Win		Alec Pantaleo	FF
Win	50–15	Jarrett Jacques	TF 10–0
Loss	49–15	Jordan Oliver	2–2
2020 US Olympic Team Trials DNP at 65 kg
Loss	49–14	Nick Lee	4–10	April 2, 2021	2020 US Olympic Team Trials	Fort Worth, Texas
Loss	49–13	Joey McKenna	5–8
Win	49–12	Anthony Ashnault	5–1
Win	48–12	Evan Henderson	6–2	February 23, 2021	NLWC V	State College, Pennsylvania
Win	47–12	Bajrang Punia	6–0	December 22, 2020	NLWC IV
Win	46–12	Reece Humphrey	TF 10–0	November 24, 2020	NLWC III
Win	45–12	Alec Pantaleo	3–2	September 19, 2020	NLWC I
2020 Pan American Olympic Qualification at 65 kg
Win	44–12	Álbaro Rudesindo	Fall	March 15, 2020	2020 Pan American Olympic Qualification Tournament	Ottawa, Canada
Loss	43–12	Agustín Destribats	Fall
Win	43–11	Uber Cuero	TF 10–0
Win	42–11	Jose Rodriguez	TF 10–0
2020 Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series at 65 kg
Win	41–11	Vasyl Shuptar	Fall	January 15–18, 2020	2020 Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series	Rome, Italy
Win	40–11	Joey McKenna	10–5
Loss	39–11	Bajrang Punia	4–5
2019 Alans International Tournament 7th at 65 kg
Loss	39–10	Saiyn Kazyryk	4–6	December 7–9, 2019	2019 Alans International Tournament	Vladikavkaz, Russia
Win	39–9	Iulian Gergenov	TF 11–0
Win	38–9	Inar Ketiia	TF 13–2
2019 World Championships 26th at 65 kg
Loss	37–9	Alejandro Valdés	9–10	September 19, 2019	2019 World Championships	Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
2019 US World Team Trials at 65 kg
Win	37–8	Yianni Diakomihalis	2–1	September 2, 2019	2019 Final X Wrestle-Off: Yianni vs Zain	Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
2019 Grand Prix Yaşar Doğu 7th at 65 kg
Loss	36–8	Yianni Diakomihalis	5–9	July 11–14, 2019	2019 Grand Prix Yaşar Doğu	Istanbul, Turkey
Win	36–7	Yianni Diakomihalis	6–6	June 7–8, 2019	2019 Final X: Rutgers	New Brunswick, New Jersey
Win	35–7	Yianni Diakomihalis	10–4
Win	34–7	Jordan Oliver	7–6	May 17–19, 2019	2019 US World Team Trials Challenge Tournament	Raleigh, North Carolina
Win	33–7	Jordan Oliver	7–6
Win	32–7	Frank Molinaro	6–1
Win	31–7	Dean Heil	TF 10–0
2019 US Open at 65 kg
Loss	30–7	Yianni Diakomihalis	4–6	April 24–27, 2019	2019 US Open National Championships	Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	30–6	Jaydin Eierman	11–3
Win	29–6	Jayson Ness	TF 10–0
Win	28–6	Mitch McKee	TF 10–0
Win	27-6	Tristan Moran	TF 10–0
Win	26–6	Peter Lipari	TF 10–0
2019 World Cup at 65kg
Win	25–6	Daichi Takatani	TF 10–0	March 16–17, 2019	2019 World Cup	Yakutsk, Russia
Win	24–6	Batmagnai Batchuluun	TF 10–0
Win	23–6	Morteza Ghiasi	6–1
Win	22–6	Amiran Vakhtangashvili	9–2
2019 Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin 8th at 65 kg
Loss	21–6	Gadzhimurad Rashidov	3–4	January 24–27, 2019	Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin 2019	Krasnoyarsk, Russia
2017 World Championships 11th at 65 kg
Loss	21–5	Adam Batirov	4–6	August 26, 2017	2017 World Championships	Paris, France
Win	21–4	David Habat	TF 10–0
2017 Spain Grand Prix at 65 kg
Win	20–4	Vahid Ahangari	TF 10–0	July 15–16, 2017	2017 Grand Prix of Spain	Madrid, Spain
Win	19–4	Ilman Mukhtarov	6–0
Win	18–4	Maxime Fiquet	TF 11–0
Win	17–4	Gabriel Janatsch	4–0
2017 US World Team Trials at 65 kg
Win	16–4	Frank Molinaro	7–4	June 10, 2017	2017 US World Team Trials	Lincoln, Nebraska
Win	15–4	Frank Molinaro	6–0
Loss	14–4	Frank Molinaro	6–7
Win	14–3	Bernard Futrell	TF 10–0	June 9, 2017	2017 US World Team Trials Challenge Tournament
Win	13–3	Nick Dardanes	TF 11–0
Win	12–3	Jaydin Eierman	TF 14–2
2017 US Open at 65 kg
Win	11–3	Jimmy Kennedy	4–3	April 26–29, 2017	2017 US Open National Championships	Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	10–3	Evan Henderson	TF 10–0
Loss		Jordan Oliver	3–5 (overturned)
Win	9–3	Nick Dardanes	TF 10–0
Win	8–3	Koby Reyes	TF 10–0
c 2016 US Olympic Team Trials at 65 kg
Win	7–3	Jimmy Kennedy	2–2	April 9–10, 2016	2016 US Olympic Team Trials	Iowa City, Iowa
Win	6–3	Jayson Ness	6–3
Win	5–3	Jason Chamberlain	7–2
Loss	4–3	Logan Stieber	6–8
Win	4–2	James Green	9–2
2015 Dave Schultz Memorial International 4th at 65 kg
Loss	3–2	Andrey Kvyatkovskyy	4–8	January 29–31, 2015	2015 Dave Schultz Memorial International	Colorado Springs, Colorado
Win	3–1	Murad Nukhadiev	9–2
Win	2–1	Evan Henderson	10–7
Loss	1–1	Jordan Oliver	2–6
Win	1–0	Michael Mangrum	7–6

NCAA record

NCAA Championships Matches
Res.	Record	Opponent	Score	Date	Event
2018 NCAA Championships at 149 lbs
Win	18-2	Ronald Perry	6-2	March 15–17, 2018	2018 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Win	17-2	Troy Heilmann	10-4
Win	16-2	Boo Lewallen	TF 20-2
Win	15-2	Alfred Bannister	Fall
Win	14-2	Kyle Springer	TF 16-1
2017 NCAA Championships at 149 lbs
Win	13–2	Lavion Mayes	TF 18-2	March 16–18, 2017	2017 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Win	13–2	Brandon Sorensen	Fall
Win	12–2	Alex Kocer	TF 19-2
Win	11–2	Jordan Laster	TF 16-0
Win	10–2	Joshua Maruca	TF 19-2
2016 NCAA Championships at 149 lbs
Win	9–2	Brandon Sorensen	MD 10-1	March 17–19, 2016	2016 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Win	8-2	Alec Pantaleo	Fall
Win	7-2	Justin Oliver	Fall
Win	5-2	Pat Lugo	Fall
Win	4-2	Coleman Hammond	TF 21-6
2014 NCAA Championships 5th at 141 lbs
Loss	3-2	Mitchell Port	TB 1-3	March 21, 2014	2014 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Loss	3-1	Logan Stieber	3-7
Win	3–0	Joey Lazor	5-2
Win	2–0	Edgar Bright	3-0
Win	1–0	Ugi Khishignyam	5-0

Stats

Awards and honors

See also

• United States results in men's freestyle wrestling

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zain Retherford.

• Zain Retherford at Twitter
• Zain Allen Retherford at the International Wrestling Database ( alternate link)
• Zain Allen Retherford at United World Wrestling
• Zain Retherford at Team USA (archived December 29, 2021)