Retherford Nominated for Hodge Trophy

Zain Retherford finished his sophomore season at Penn State as both a Big Ten Champion and National Champion. Now, he has an opportunity to add to his already sterling resume. Retherford was recently nominated for the Dan Hodge Trophy, which is awarded annually to the nation’s most dominant wrestler.

Retherford went 34-0 this season with 15 pins and 29 bonus point wins. He was consistent all year for Penn State, and was Cael Sanderson’s favorite weapon.

The award is given based on record, pins, performance and quality of competition. Nominees for the award include Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State, Nahshon Garrett of Cornell, and Kyle Snyder of Ohio State. Retherford has more pins than the three, and finished with more wins than everybody aside from Nahshon Garrett, who had 37 victories. One of the more interesting candidates on the ballot is Kyle Snyder. Snyder only spent about half of a season with Ohio State because he wrestled in the World Championships along with international matches. Snyder became the youngest American to win a World Freestyle Championship in September.

As of 5 p.m. Thursday evening, Retherford held a slim lead in the poll over Alex Dieringer. You can vote for Retherford here. Voting ends at 6 p.m. Friday, March 25.