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Penn State Wrestling’s Zain Retherford Qualifies For World Team

The Zain Train is rolling into Kazakhstan — as of right now.

Former Penn State wrestler Zain Retherford qualified for his second World team by sweeping Cornell’s Yianni Diakomihalis at Final X: Rutgers Saturday, although his win is under dispute at the moment and could be reversed.

Wrestling for the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, Retherford avenged a loss to Diakomihalis in the US Open finals by winning bouts 10-4 and 6-6 on criteria.

After a strong showing by Retherford in his first match, a bit of controversy surrounded his second win. Diakomihalis appeared to have won the bout after leading 8-6 at the end of the final period, but coaches in Retherford’s corner (read: rules magician Cael Sanderson) challenged a call from a minute earlier. The call ended up being overturned, which took two of Diakomihalis’ points off the board and gave Retherford a much-disputed win and World team berth.

Many believed the call came too late and unnecessarily changed the entire course of the bout. What’s more, the wrestling world missed out on a winner-take-all match between two of the sport’s most entertaining athletes.

https://twitter.com/beastman1477/status/1137531165592760321
https://twitter.com/CoachWalt1/status/1137531777218732032

Cornell coach Rob Koll said he is protesting the match, so stay tuned if there’s one more rematch between Retherford and Diakomihalis. By Koll’s account, it seems likely. If not, Retherford will compete for the United States at the World Wrestling Championships this September in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. If he medals, he’ll clinch a berth in the finals of next year’s Olympic trials, which are expected to be held at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Former Penn State wrestler Bo Nickal also wrestled Saturday, but he missed out on the opportunity to compete at Worlds. He lost in straight sets to reigning World champion J’den Cox in the 92 kg series. A third Nittany Lion David Taylor was set to wrestle at Final X: Rutgers as well, but he was forced to forfeit due to an injury sustained last month.

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About the Author

Anthony Colucci

Anthony Colucci was once Onward State’s managing editor and preferred walk-on honors student who majored in psychology and public relations. Despite being from the make-believe land of Central Jersey, he was never a Rutgers fan. If you ever want to know how good Saquon Barkley's ball security is, ask Anthony what happened when he tried to force a fumble at the Mifflin Streak. If you want to hear the story or are bored and want to share prequel memes, follow @_anthonycolucci on Twitter or email him at [email protected]. All other requests and complaints should be directed to Onward State media contact emeritus Steve Connelly.

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