Zain Retherford received the "Most Dominant Wrestler" award in Division I (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Penn State wrestling champ Zain Retherford has been nominated for ESPY's Best Male College Athlete, ESPN announced Wednesday.
Wrestling fans can weigh in by casting a vote online at the official ESPN website:
Retherford is up against some formidable competition. Also in the running for Best Male College Athlete honors: Wake Forest soccer's Ian Harkes, Kansas basketball's Frank Mason, Maryland lacrosse's Matt Rambo, and Clemson football's DeShaun Watson.
Winners are determined exclusively by an online vote of sports fans. The winners will be announced during the 25th ESPYS awards show at 8 p.m. July 12 on ABC.
In the history of the ESPYs, a number of top wrestlers have been nominated for Best Male College Athlete, including Penn State's David Taylor, Missouri's Ben Askren, Cornell's Kyle Dake, Ohio State's Logan Stieber, and, just last year, Oklahoma State's Alex Dieringer. However, the only wrestling nominee to take home the Best Male College Athlete ESPY was current Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson, back in 2002, after concluding his wrestling career at Iowa State with four NCAA titles and a perfect 159-0 record. (Note: Anthony Robles, 2011 NCAA champ for Arizona State, did receive two ESPYs in 2011 ... but not Best Male College Athlete. The Sun Devil's ESPYs were the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance, and Best Male Athlete with a Disability.)
If anyone could break the long dry spell for a college wrestler earning the ESPY Best Male College Athlete, Retherford could be the one. The Benton, Pa. rising senior brings to the ESPY competition an impressive set of accomplishments on and off the mat. Retherford won the 149-pound title at the 2017 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, where he was voted the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler, and also named NCAA Most Dominant Wrestler for the entire 2016-17 season. Retherford also won the Big Ten title at 149, along with Outstanding Wrestler honors. Less than two weeks ago, Retherford became a 2017 U.S. World Team Trials champion in freestyle.
Retherford also demonstrated winning performance in the classroom by being named 2017 Academic All-Big Ten, 2017 CoSIDA First Team Academic All-District (at-large), 2017 CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American (at-large), and NWCA (National Wrestling Coaches Association) National All-Academic Team.
In addition to these athletic and academic accomplishments, the Zain Train has also hauled in the hardware in 2017. Three months ago, Retherford was honored with the Dan Hodge Trophy as the nation's top collegiate wrestler ... and was named InterMat Wrestler of the Year. Just last week, Retherford was named Penn State's Male Student-Athlete of the Year, and is in the running for the Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year honors.
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