Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1545007
J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 2 6 3 9 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M WRESTLING P enn State alum Zain Rether- ford clinched his spot at Final X by beating Virginia Tech's Caleb Henson by decision, 2-1, in the 70-ki- logram final at the Senior World Team Trials. The event, which featured past, present and future Nittany Lions, took place May 14-15 in Louisville, Ky. Retherford, a three-time national champion for the Nittany Lions and two-time Hodge Trophy winner, will face Nebraska's Ridge Lovett in the best- of-three clash this summer to see who makes the starting lineup for the U.S. Senior National Team. Incoming Nittany Lion Jayden James also competed at the World Team Tri- als but wasn't able to secure a berth at Final X. Despite a furious comeback, he dropped a 9-7 decision in the 74-kg final to former Iowa State star David Carr, a two-time national champion. It was still an extremely impressive showing from the 17-year-old at the senior level. His wins included a 10-0 tech fall of rising PSU redshirt sophomore Joe Sealey and an 8-3 decision over Iowa NCAA finalist Michael Caliendo. Sealey recovered to finish third in the 74-kg class by beating former Princeton All-American Quincy Monday, 10-5. Rising redshirt sopho- more heavyweight Cole Mirasola fin- ished fourth after falling to Coby Merrill, 13-7, in the 125-kg bronze-medal match. Seve ra l N i t ta ny L i o n w re s t l e rs opted not to compete at the World Team Trials, a list headed by two-time 165-pound NCAA champ Mitchell Mesenbrink. Others who didn't take part were sophomore PJ Duke, redshirt sophomore Connor Mirasola, senior Shayne Van Ness, redshirt freshman William Henckel, junior Josh Barr and senior Tyler Kasak. Penn State will be represented at Final X by Retherford; recent graduate Levi Haines (79 kg), who takes on Chance Marsteller, a former NCAA champ at Pitt; junior Luke Lilledahl (57 kg), who faces Olympic silver medalist Spencer Lee; and sophomore Marcus Blaze (61 kg), who squares off against 2026 NCAA champion Jax Forrest of Oklahoma State. The event will take place June 19 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Haines took first place at the Pan- American Championships on May 10. Competing in a five-man field, the two- time NCAA champ finished undefeated in his four matches to claim his first se- nior-level Pan-Am title. ■ Lions Won't Compete In National Duals After skipping the inaugural National Duals Invitational this past season, Penn State has once again opted out. The event, which will take place Dec. 12-13 in Tulsa, Okla., and will offer $1.23 million in prize money, is set to feature Ohio State, Arizona State, Arkansas-Little Rock, Iowa State, Minnesota, Missouri, NC State, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Maryland, Pitt, Rutgers, Stanford, Virginia Tech and Wyoming. The Buckeyes won the event a year ago. As the defending NCAA team champion, Penn State had the opportunity to be in the field. But head coach Cael Sanderson has expressed ambivalence about the event, noting that Penn State has consistently prioritized the NCAA Tournament in March. "We love the national tournament the way it is right now," Sanderson said. "There's always been a push to move the team championships to a dual format, which we'd be fine at. We do fine at duals. But we just love the format as it is now." Another stumbling block as far as Penn State and other schools are concerned is the timing of the National Duals. The mid-December dates conflict with final exams for many schools on the semes- ter system. PSU's fall semester finals are scheduled for Dec. 14-18 this year. — Greg Pickel Zain Retherford Takes Title At World Team Trials G R E G P I C K E L | G R E G . P I C K E L @ O N 3 . C O M Retherford won three 149-pound national championships with the Nittany Lions. He's headed to the Final X event in June where he will compete for a spot on the U.S. Senior National Team. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS