Zain Retherford

Zain Allen Retherford (/ˈrɛðərfərd/ REDH-ər-fərd; born May 21, 1995) is an American freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler who competes at 70 kilograms. In freestyle, he is a gold and silver medalist at the World Championships, as well as a Pan-American champion.

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.

Early life and education

Retherford was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Early in life, he moved to Benton, Pennsylvania. He attended Line Mountain High School, where he won a Pennsylvania 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 in 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 class AA state titles.

College career

Retherford was considered the #3 recruit in the country in 2012. He committed to the Nittany Lions at Penn State University.

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. 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.

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.

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, and received the 2016 Wade Schalles Award for best collegiate pinner.

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 for the second time in a row.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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).

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.

2019

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

At the US Open, he downed 5 opponents before losing to Yianni Diakomihalis in the finals, this qualified him for the World Team Trials. At the Challenge Tournament, he defeated Dean Heil, Frank Molinaro and Jordan Oliver twice before competing at Final X: Rutgers against Yianni Diakomihalis. 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.

He once again faced Yianni Diakomihalis in the qualification round of the Grand Prix Yaşar Doğu. He lost the match by points (9-5). 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.

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. He defeated Diakomihalis by two points to one.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Retherford was scheduled to compete at the 2020 US Olympic Team Trials on April 4 at State College, Pennsylvania. 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.

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, whom he outscored 3 points to 2. 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. 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.

2021

To start off the year, Retherford defeated Evan Henderson in February at the NLWC V. 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. 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. He lost his consolation match against 2021 NCAA champion from Penn State Nick Lee, failing to place.

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. After losing in the first round in the hands of Jordan Oliver, Retherford made his way to a third-place finish. He is also a Senior Freestyle World Silver Medalist (70 kg; 2022). 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.

Freestyle record

NCAA record

Stats

Awards and honors

2020

• Pan American Wrestling Olympic Qualification (65 kg)
• Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series (65 kg)

2019

• World Cup (65 kg)
• US World Team Trials (65 kg)
• U.S Open Championship (65 kg)

2018

• NCAA Division I (149 lbs)
• Big Ten Conference (149 lbs)
• Dan Hodge Trophy winner
• NCAA Most Dominant wrestler
• Big Ten Wrestler of the Year

2017

• US World Team Trials (65 kg)
• U.S Open Championship (65 kg)
• Spain Grand Prix
• NCAA Division I (149 lbs)
• Big Ten Conference (149 lbs)
• Dan Hodge Trophy winner
• NCAA Division I Championships Outstanding Wrestler
• NCAA Most Dominant wrestler
• Big Ten Championships Outstanding Wrestler

2016

• US Olympic Team Trials Challenge Tournament (65 kg)
• NCAA Division I (149 lbs)
• Big Ten Conference (149 lbs)
• NCAA Most Dominant wrestler
• Penn State Male Athlete of the Year
• Big Ten Wrestler of the Year

2014

• NCAA Division I All-American (141 lbs)
• Big Ten Conference (141 lbs)

See also

• List of Pennsylvania State University Olympians
• United States results in men's freestyle wrestling

External links

• at United World Wrestling
• at Tapology.com
• at the International Wrestling Database
• at Olympics.com
• at TeamUSA.com
• at Olympedia