29 Facts About Zain Retherford

Zain Allen Retherford is an American freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler who competes at 70 kilograms.

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.

Russ Hughes, his high school coach, states that it was in this time when Zain Retherford started to really focus and grow as a wrestler.

Zain Retherford committed to the Nittany Lions at Penn State University.

Zain Retherford made his way to the Big Ten Conference finals to face defending NCAA champion Logan Stieber, whom he lost to by 4 points, making him the runner-up of the tournament.

At the NCAA championships, Zain Retherford defeated an unseeded opponent in the first round and the eleventh and fourteenth seeds before losing to the second-seeded Logan Stieber .

Zain Retherford 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.

Zain Retherford 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.

Zain Retherford was named NCAA Most Dominant Wrestler for the third straight time and Big Ten Wrestler of the Year for the second time.

At the Dave Schultz Memorial, Zain Retherford lost to Jordan Oliver in the quarterfinals.

At the US Olympic Team Trials, Zain Retherford defeated James Green in the preliminary match and advanced to the quarterfinals, where he faced Logan Stieber, whom he lost to.

At the US Open, Zain Retherford placed third after losing to Jordan Oliver in the semifinals, qualifying for the World Team Trials Tournament.

Zain Retherford won the Challenge Tournament and went on to face Frank Molinaro at the wrestle-offs.

Zain Retherford won the 2-out-of-3 matches, losing the first one and dominantly winning the other two.

Zain Retherford competed at the Spain Grand Prix before the World Championships.

Zain Retherford dominated his opponents, not getting scored a single point and winning all of his matches.

At the World Championships, Zain Retherford teched David Habat in the opening match but subsequently lost to Adam Batirov, getting eliminated and placing eleventh.

Zain Retherford faced Yianni Diakomihalis in the qualification round of the Grand Prix Yasar Dogu.

Zain Retherford was then scheduled to compete at the Pan American Games he was forced to pull out a week before the event and was replaced by Jaydin Eierman.

Zain Retherford competed at the World Championships weeks after his wrestle-off.

Zain Retherford lost a close bout in the first round against Alejandro Valdes and was eliminated, placing twenty-sixth.

Zain Retherford faced Bajrang Punia, whom he lost a close decision in the opening round.

Zain Retherford went on to place third as he beat Joey McKenna and pinned Vasyl Shuptar in the repechage matches.

Zain Retherford started strong, winning by technical superiority in both of his first two bouts.

Zain Retherford took him down early 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 Zain Retherford in freestyle competition.

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

Zain Retherford lost his consolation match against 2021 NCAA champion from Penn State Nick Lee, failing to place.

Zain Retherford is a Senior Freestyle World Silver Medalist.

Zain Retherford defeated Iranian wrestler Amir Mohammad Yazdani 8:5 in the final bout.