Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/969330
Dake, the way Ruth dominated with ease is still unprecedented. There's also Quentin Wright, another two-timer and Sanderson's 8rst champion. But if it doesn't just come down to championships and trophies, what about wins? Penn State's all-time leader in that category is Jim Martin with 155, but he compiled that total in the late 1980s when wrestlers would compete upwards of 50 times per season. These days, Penn State wrestlers almost never exceed 40 matches. More o9en, the number is closer to 30. On a percentage basis, Ruth has the best career mark at 97.84 (136-3), with Taylor close behind at 97.82 (134-3). Retherford went 31-0 as a senior, bringing his career record to 126-3 and raising his winning percentage to 97.67. His last loss came as a true freshman during the consolation rounds of the NCAA tournament. He went on to win 19 consecutive matches at nationals, a total that fell two shy of Ruth's 21 all-time NCAA tournament wins. Retherford's 126 career victories rank seventh all-time at PSU, but his winning percentage is third-best. When it comes to pins, though, he's tied for No. 1 with two other greats. At nationals last month, he pinned Maryland's Alfred Bannister in 2 min- utes, 29 seconds in a second-round match, securing his 17th fall of the year and the 53rd of his career. The total tied the mark 8rst set by Josh Moore and tied by Taylor a decade later. The criteria that determine the winner of the Hodge Trophy include overall record, number of pins, dominance on the mat, past statistics/honors, quality of competition, sportsmanship/citizen- ship and heart. The 8rst four are pri- mary, with a heavy emphasis on total number of falls. As a senior, Retherford led all 8nalists in that cate- gory. Getting 35 out of 48 8rst- place votes, Retherford earned this year's award over teammate Bo Nickal (184), South Dakota's Seth Gross (133) and Arizona State's Zahid Valencia (174). Nickal 8nished second in the voting. He enters next season as the early Hodge favorite, with 157-pound classmate Jason Nolf not far behind. Both are just one championship away from joining Retherford and Ruth as three-timers. But at least one will have never won the Hodge. Also don't look now, but Vin- cenzo Joseph is already halfway to be- coming the program's 8rst four-timer, while Mark Hall might have the bright- est international future of them all ahead of him. So there really is no easy answer, and the pool of contenders is only going to grow if Sanderson keeps his program rolling along. To argue that Retherford has been the best of that era so far, considering that his is the longest win streak and that he has three titles to his name, wouldn't be wrong. "Zain will always be remembered as one of the great college wrestlers cer- tainly, one of the best Penn State wrestlers for sure," Sanderson said be- fore nationals. But he – and Rether- ford, too – would claim that a few others still have their rightful place alongside him. ■ OUT IN STYLE Retherford won his last 94 matches at Penn State, including five at NCAAs to claim his third consecutive 149- pound national title. Photo by Joe Faraoni/ ESPN Images