As a cadet and a junior, Retherford already had prestigious
freestyle accomplishments; Cadet World and National champion and three-time Junior National
runner-up.
2016 At the
US Olympic Team Trials, Retherford defeated
James Green (9-2) in the preliminary match and advanced to the quarterfinals, where he faced
Logan Stieber, whom he lost to (6-8). In the repechage matches, he downed Jason Chamberlain (7-2), Jayson Ness (6-3) and
Jimmy Kennedy (2-2) to place third in the tournament.
2017 At the US Open, Retherford placed third after losing to
Jordan Oliver in the semifinals, qualifying for the World Team Trials Tournament. He won the Challenge Tournament and went on to face
Frank Molinaro at the wrestle-offs. He won the 2-out-of-3 matches, losing the first one (6-7) and dominantly winning the other two (6-0, 7-4). Retherford competed at the Spain Grand Prix before the
World Championships. He dominated his opponents, not getting scored a single point and winning all of his matches (4-0, TF 11–0, 6–0, TF 10-0). At the
World Championships, Retherford
teched (10-0) David Habat in the opening match but subsequently lost to
Adam Batirov (4-6), getting eliminated and placing eleventh.
2019 At the
Ivan Yarygin Golden Grand Prix, he lost in the opening bout to
Gadzhimurad Rashidov (3-4) and got eliminated, placing eighth. At the US Open, he downed 5 opponents before losing to
Yianni Diakomihalis in the finals, this qualified him for the World Team Trials. At the Challenge Tournament, he defeated
Dean Heil,
Frank Molinaro and
Jordan Oliver twice before competing at
Final X: Rutgers against
Yianni Diakomihalis. In the first match, Retherford beat Diakomihalis 10–4. The second match ended with a lot on controversy; Retherford was down 4-6 when he got a
takedown for two points, Diakomihalis ended up earning two more to apparently win the match 8–6, however, there were problems with the scoring and that led to the match being scored 6–6 with an advantage on criteria to Retherford, winning the match and the Final X series. He once again faced
Yianni Diakomihalis in the qualification round of the Grand Prix Yaşar Doğu. He lost the match by points (9-5). He was then scheduled to compete at the
Pan American Games, however, he was forced to pull out a week before the event and was replaced by
Jaydin Eierman. Due to the past controversy at
Final X: Rutgers, Retherford faced
Diakomihalis for the fifth time in their
freestyle career in a wrestle-off called Final X: Yianni vs. Zain to determine who was going to represent the
United States at the
World Championships. He defeated Diakomihalis by two points to one. Retherford competed at the Alan International in
Russia. He downed Inar Kettia and Iulian Gergenov (TF 13–2, TF 11-0) prior to losing to Saiyn Kazyryk (4-6), placing seventh. In his last tournament of 2019, he competed at the prestigious
World Cup, where he ended up undefeated at 65 kilograms with four victories, claiming the individual World Cup championship and helping Team USA win the team bronze-medal.
2020 In his first competition of the year, Retherford competed at the Matteo Pellicone RS. He faced
Bajrang Punia, whom he lost a close decision (4-5) in the opening round. He went on to place third as he beat
Joey McKenna (10-5) and
pinned Vasyl Shuptar in the repechage matches. In an attempt to make his way to the
Olympics, Retherford competed at the
Pan American Olympic Qualification Tournament. He started strong, winning by
technical superiority (10-0) in both of his first two bouts. In the semifinals, he faced
Agustín Destribats. Retherford took him down early, however, Destribats was able to adjust and worked his way to the victory by
fall, being the first wrestler to get the win in that fashion against Retherford in freestyle competition. In the third-place match, he faced Álbaro Rudesindo, whom he pinned. Retherford was scheduled to compete at the
2020 US Olympic Team Trials on April 4 at
State College, Pennsylvania. However, the event was postponed for 2021 along with the
Summer Olympics due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, leaving all the qualifiers unable to compete. After six months without being able to compete, Retherford returned to the mats against three–time
NCAA Division I All-American
Alec Pantaleo on September 19 at the
NLWC I, whom he outscored 3 points to 2. He then won by
technical fall against three–time US National Champion and World Team Member
Reece Humphrey on November 24, at the
NLWC III. Retherford avenged his loss to
Bajrang Punia at the Matteo Pellicone, when he flawlessly defeated him 6–0 at the
NLWC IV of December 22.
2021 To start off the year, Retherford defeated Evan Henderson in February at the
NLWC V. Retherford competed at the rescheduled
2020 US Olympic Team Trials from April 2 to 3 as the top–seed in an attempt of representing the
United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He knocked off two–time Pan American Continental champion and
2019 NCAA champion Anthony Ashnault in the first round, but was unexpectedly
upset by 2018 US Open champion
Joey McKenna by decision. He lost his consolation match against
2021 NCAA champion from
Penn State Nick Lee, failing to place. Retherford bulked up to 70 kilograms for a comeback at the
2021 US World Team Trials on September 11–12, intending to represent the country at the
World Championships. After losing in the first round in the hands of
Jordan Oliver, Retherford made his way to a third-place finish. He is also a Senior Freestyle World Silver Medalist (70 kg; 2022). 2023 He won the gold medal in the 70 kg weight class at the
2023 World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade. He defeated Iranian wrestler
Amir Mohammad Yazdani 8:5 in the final bout.
2024 Retherford lost to
Tömör-Ochiryn Tulga at the
2024 World Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament, but still qualified for the Olympics after defeating
Niurgun Skriabin in repechage. At the
2024 Summer Olympics, Retherford was defeated by
Rahman Amouzad and then withdrew from the remaining tournament due to a
concussion.
2026 Retherford will debut for
Real American Freestyle at
RAF 09 on May 30, 2026 against
Tömör-Ochiryn Tulga. == Freestyle record ==