Penn State wrestling legend Zain Retherford needed help.
In his first match, Retherford went against Iran’s Rahman Amouzadkhalili, one of the top wrestlers at 65 kg, and fell 8-0.
To stay in the competition and keep his chances for a Bronze Medal alive, Retherford needed Amouzadkhalil to make it to the Gold Medal Match.
Fortunately for Retherford, that ended up happening, and as a result, the Zain Train will roll on. The next stop on the journey is a match with Albania’s Islam Dudaev, who also lost to Amouzadkhalil. Retherford will compete in Sunday’s first session, which will begin at 5 a.m. Eastern time and stream on Peacock and the NBC Sports App.
If there were a Mt. Rushmore of Penn State wrestling legends, Retherford would have a strong case to be on.
He and future Olympic Gold Medalist/Oklahoma State head coach David Taylor are the only wrestlers in program history to win two Hodge Trophies, which is wrestling’s equivalent to the Heisman. Only six men in history— another one being Penn State coach Cael Sanderson, who won three at Iowa State— have won more than one Hodge.
After advancing through the U.S. Olympic Trials in Happy Valley, Retherford had to go through the World Qualifiers in Turkey.
After losing Saturday, he came into Sunday needing to win four matches to qualify for the 2024 Olympics.
Mission accomplished.
Retherford rolled through Alibeg Alibegov (Bahrain) andAbdulmazhid Kudiev (Tajikistan). He then beat Sujeet Sujeet (India) and Niurgun Skriabin (Ain).
He beat Sujeet 2-2 on criteria and Skriabin 7-0.
Retherford’s day started with a bang, pinning Alibegov. He then took care of Kudiev 5-2, surviving a late takedown. Next up was Sujeet Kalkal. Kalkal went ahead with an early takedown, but Retherford matched that takedown in the second period. Kalkal didn’t get any offense in the rest of the way, and Retherford moved on due to criteria.
Penn State and the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club sent four wrestlers to Paris. Two of them– Aaron Brooks and Kyle Dake– won Bronze Medals.
Kyle Snyder is competing for Bronze tomorrow.
If Retherford wins, he’ll have a spot in the Bronze Medal Match.
