It wasn’t the Olympic debut Penn State wrestling legend Zain Retherford hoped for.
Going against Iran’s Rahman Amouzadkhalili, who is one of top competitors at 65 KG, Retherford fell 8-0.
Retherford gave up a takedown to fall behind 2-0, then went down by three after not scoring a point within a 30-second passivity window.
He was down 6-0 with 2:40 left, and ended up allowing another takedown to fall 8-0.
Now, Retherford’s only chance to win a medal will come if Amouzadkhalili makes it to the finals.
Retherford has bounced back before. At the last chance qualifiers in Istanbul this past May, Retherford lost a match, but was pulled back into the bracket and took advantage to qualify for his first Olympics. Unfortunately, it’s out of his hands for now.
