Former Penn State wrestlers David Taylor and Zain Retherford added to their trophy case in Belgrade, Serbia, on September 16 during the 2022 World Championships. Taylor finished as a world champion, while Rutherford earned the second-place spot.

Taylor (86 kg) found his way to the championship bout with three straight tech falls before facing up against Iran’s Hassan Yazdani Charati in the final matchup. Multiple takedowns and a step out gave Taylor the 7-1 decision win.

This dominant win made Taylor a two-time world champion, which is surely a nice addition to his 2020 Olympic gold medal win, his Hodge trophy, and his 2012 NCAA Championship victory.

Zain Retherford (70 kg) also earned the first senior medal of his career against Japan’s Taishi Narikuni. Retherford dropped the final bout against Narikuni 10-0 but still walked away as a silver medalist. He also had a final record of 4-1 in the tournament.

Retherford was a two-time National Champion and the 2017 Hodge trophy winner during his career as a Nittany Lion.

Aside from the alumni, two members of the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, Kyle Snyder (97 kg) and Thomas Gilman (57 kg), also took home medals.

Snyder won gold against Iran’s Mohammad Hossein Mohammadian in a shutout 6-0 win, while Gilman earned silver after dropping his final bout against China’s Wanghao Zou 8-2.

Cael Sanderson and Penn State wrestling will be back for the 2023 season in just a few short weeks following their massive NCAA Championship win in March.