Zain Retherford defeated Lock Haven's Ronnie Perry to win the NCAA title (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Penn State's Zain Retherford has been named 2018 InterMat Wrestler of the Year, the amateur wrestling website announced Wednesday.
Retherford, the 2018 NCAA Division I champ at 149 pounds, is the first InterMat Wrestler of the Year to have earned the honor three times in the 13-year history of the award, and only the second collegiate mat star to have been named Wrestler of the Year by InterMat more than once, joining Missouri's two-time NCAA champ turned mixed martial arts titlewinner Ben Askren who was a two-time InterMat award-winner.
Presented each year since 2006 to the best collegiate wrestler in all divisions, the award is based exclusively on the balloting of wrestlers and executives at InterMat prior to the announcement of other college wrestling awards. Each staff member is asked to select five wrestlers and rank them from first to fifth. Point values are assigned to each placement, ranging from one point to a wrestler listed fifth on a voter's ballot, up to nine points for a first-place vote.
Retherford received four of the nine first-place ballots for a total of 61 votes. Penn State teammate Bo Nickal, 184-pound champ at the 2018 NCAAs, found himself at the top of three InterMat staffers' ballots, for a total of 55 votes, while Ohio State heavyweight Kyle Snyder earned two first-place votes, for a total of 45 votes.
Retherford concluded his collegiate career as a four-time NCAA All-American, and three-time NCAA champ, only the second wrestler to achieve a trio of titles in the more than a century of Penn State wrestling (the other being Ed Ruth, who did it in 2012-2014). The native of Benton, Pa. was 31-0 as a senior, building on a winning streak that concluded at 94 matches, for an overall collegiate record of 126-3.
In the coming days, InterMat will announce its selections for Coach of the Year and Freshman of the Year.
2018 InterMat Wrestler of the Year Voting Results
1st-5th Place Votes: 9, 7, 5, 3, 1
Total Votes/(First-Place Votes)
1. Zain Retherford, Penn State 61 (4)
2. Bo Nickal, Penn State 55 (3)
3. Kyle Snyder, Ohio State 41 (2)
4. Zahid Valencia, Arizona State 40
5. Jason Nolf, Penn State 23
6. Seth Gross, South Dakota State 14
7. Spencer Lee, Iowa 7
8. Vincenzo Joseph, Penn State 3
9. Kyle Conel, Kent State 1
9. Yianni Diakomihalis, Cornell 1
InterMat Wrestler of the Year Past Winners:
2017: Zain Retherford, Penn State
2016: Zain Retherford, Penn State
2015: Logan Stieber, Ohio State
2014: David Taylor, Penn State
2013: Kyle Dake, Cornell
2012: Ed Ruth, Penn State
2011: Jordan Burroughs, Nebraska
2010: Jayson Ness, Minnesota
2009: Jake Herbert, Northwestern
2008: Brent Metcalf, Iowa
2007: Ben Askren, Missouri
2006: Ben Askren, Missouri
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