Zain Retherford

Zain Allen Retherford ( ; born May 21, 1995) is an American freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler who competes at 70 kilograms. He is currently coaching the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club.

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.

In freestyle, he is a gold and silver medalist at the World Championships, as well as a Pan-American champion. He competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

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.

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.

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 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.

2024 Retherford lost to Tömör-Ochiryn Tulga at the 2024 World Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament, but still qualified for the Olympics after defeating Niurgun Skriabin in repechage.

At the 2024 Summer Olympics, Retherford was defeated by Rahman Amouzad and then withdrew from the remaining tournament due to a concussion.

2026 Retherford debuted for Real American Freestyle at RAF 09 on May 30, 2026, defeating Antrell Taylor.

He faced Ernazar Akmataliev at RAF Georgia on July 11, 2026. He lost by decision.

Freestyle record

Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location

Win 92-21

Newark, New Jersey Win 91-21

Win 90–21

Arlington, Texas Win 89–21

Louisville, Kentucky Win 88–21

Loss 87–21

Loss 87–20

Win 87-19

Istanbul, Turkey Win 86-19

Win 85-19

Win 84-19

Loss 83-19

Win 83-18

Win 82-18

Win 81-18

State College, Pennsylvania Win 80-18

Win 79-18

Win 78-18

Belgrade, Serbia Win 77-18

Win 76-18

Win 75-18

Win 74-18

Buenos Aires, Argentina Win 73-18

Win 72-18

Win 71-18

Win 70-18

Newark, New Jersey Win 69-18

Loss 68-18

Belgrade, Serbia Win 68-17

Win 67-17

Win 66-17

Win 65-17

Win 64-17

Win 63-17

Win 62-17

Win 61-17

Win 60-17

Win 59-17

Stillwater, Oklahoma Loss 58-17

Win 58-16

Win 57-16

Coralville, Iowa Win 56-16

Win 55-16

Win 54-16

Win 53-16

Win 52-16

Win 51-16

Win 50-16

Win 49-16

Loss 48-16

Loss 48-15

Loss 48-14

Win 48-13

Win 47-13

State College, Pennsylvania Win 46-13

Win 45-13

Win 44-13

Win 43-13

Ottawa, Canada Loss 42-13

Win 42-12

Win 41-12

Win 40-12

Win 39-12

Loss 38-12

Loss 38-11

Win 38-10

Win 37-10

Loss 36-10

Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan

Win 36-9

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

Loss 35-9

Istanbul, Turkey NC 35-8

New Brunswick, New Jersey Win 35–8

Win 34–8

Raleigh, North Carolina Win 33–8

Win 32–7

Win 31–8

Loss 30–8

Las Vegas, Nevada Win 30–7

Win 29–6

Win 28–7

Win 27-6

Win 26–7

Win 25–7

Win 24–7

Win 23–6

Win 22–7

Loss 21–7

Krasnoyarsk, Russia

Loss 21–6

Paris, France Win 21–5

Win 20–5

Win 19–5

Win 18–5

Win 17–5

Win 16–5

Win 15–5

Loss 14–5

Win 14–4

Win 13–4

Win 12–4

Win 11–4

Las Vegas, Nevada Win 10–4

Loss 9-4

Win 9–3

Win 8–3

Win 7–3

Iowa City, Iowa Win 6–3

Win 5–3

Loss 4–3

Win 4–2

Loss 3–2

Colorado Springs, Colorado Win 3–1

Win 2–1

Loss 1–1

Win 1–0

NCAA record

Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event

Win 18-2

Win 17-2

Win 16-2

Win 15-2

Win 14-2

Win 13–2

Win 13–2

Win 12–2

Win 11–2

Win 10–2

Win 9–2

Win 8-2

Win 7-2

Win 5-2

Win 4-2

Loss 3-2

Loss 3-1

Win 3–0

Win 2–0

Win 1–0

Stats Season Year School Rank Weigh Class Record Win Bonus 2018 Senior

1 (1st)

31-0 100.00% 83.87% 2017 Junior 1 (1st) 28-0 100.00% 89.29% 2016 Sophomore 1 (1st) 34-0 100.00% 88.57% 2014 Freshman 4 (5th) 141 33-3 89.47% 39.47%

Coaching career

Retherford was hired as coach of the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club on August 26, 2024.

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)