Retherford Wins Cadet World Championship
Simply amazing. That is what Benton Area High School senior Zain Retherford has been this off-season. We all know the story of how Retherford won the 103 lbs. PIAA State AA Championship his freshman season at Line Mountain, then placed third the following season at 112 lbs., before being ruled ineligible by the PIAA in his junior year for transferring from Line Mountain to Benton Area.
Despite a year off from wrestling in the PIAA, Zain Retherford has officially become Pennsylvania’s and possibly the Nation’s most sought over senior. In early June of 2012 Retherford opened many college coaches eyes when he won the FILA Cadet Nationals in Akron, OH at 63 kg (138.75 lbs.) and was also named the Tournament’s “Outstanding Wrestler.” That victory for Retherford earned him a place to compete internationally at the FILA Cadet World Championships. Then in July of 2012, Zain travelled to Fargo, ND where he kept the momentum rolling as he topped Illinois University recruit Zane Richards in the 132 lbs. finals at the ASICS/Vaughan Junior Nationals Championship. If defeating the top tier wrestlers from across the Nation in his age group wasn’t enough, this week Retherford competed against the World’s most decorated Junior wrestlers and did not disappoint. In fact, Retherford was flawless at the FILA Cadet World Championships held in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Competing at 63 kg (138.75 lbs.) for the United States Zain Retherford became the only U.S. wrestler to earn a World medal in the Men’s Cadet Freestyle division and that medal was Gold. Zain rattled off three straight victories to advance into the finals against Supian Burmagomedov of Russia. In the finals Retherford dropped the opening period (0-1) to the Russian but bounced back to win the next two periods and claim the Cadet World Title (View the Match Here) by a score of (0-1, 4-3, 2-1). The World Title earned by Retherford capped an incredible off-season of freestyle competition. If anyone thought a year of not competing in the PIAA would hinder this young man’s career, Retherford proved not only did it fail to hurt his recruit-ability, it has significantly improved over the past three months. Retherford will enter his senior season with only 3 career defeats and I would be surprised to see him leave with any more. If he is able to continue improving in freestyle competition, there is literally no telling how far he could go, including a trip to the Olympic Games.
Also competing at the Cadet World Championships was the sensational Chance Marsteller. The 2x PIAA Champion and undefeated junior at Kennard-Dale High School had his World Title hopes cut short after sustaining an injury in the semi-final round. Marsteller had won his first two matches before injury defaulting in the championship semi-finals and the Bronze Medal match. The extent of his injury is unknown to this point.
PA Wrestlers at 2012 Cadet World Championships
63 kg/138.75 lbs. – Zain Retherford, Benton, Pa., GOLD MEDAL
WIN Hossein Rouzbehmaleh (Iran), 0-1, pin
WIN Sapar Kubandykov (Kyrgyzstan), 3-0, 1-6, 2-0
WIN Ilyas Zhumay (Kazakhstan), 1-0, 6-0
WIN Supian Burmagomedov (Russia). 0-1, 4-3, 2-1
76 kg/167.5 lbs. – Chance Marsteller, New Park, Pa., 5th
WIN Erik Bizunovic (Lithuania), 6-0, 6-0
WIN Mustafa Turkaya (Turkey), 5-0, 8-6
LOSS Ruslan Ruchko (Ukraine), inj. dft
LOSS Mahammadhaji Mukhutov (Azerbaijan), inj. dft.