Feb. 1, 2016
By Ryan Hickey, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" To say that Penn State has the best one-two punch in collegiate wrestling would be unfair for the two wrestlers in question, as deciding who would be one and who would be two might be even more difficult than trying to wrestle them.
Zain Retherford and Jason Nolf have been the two of the toughest matchups for opponents to wrestle in what is becoming an increasingly difficult Nittany Lion lineup. At 149 and 157, respectively, the pair mirrors each other on the mat, dazzling fans with their relentless and exciting styles.
Nolf and Retherford have been virtually identical this season, as both are ranked No. 1 in their respective weight classes while both posting undefeated records. The duo is ranked atop the team in pins and technical falls while mirroring the same, aggressive style.
Sunday's 35-7 blowout of the Wolverines marked the 10th time in 12 matches that both wrestlers tallied bonus point victories, providing the dagger that ends any teams hopes of defeating the Nittany Lions this season.
A rare sight for Nittany Lion fans, donning their white in Rec Hall, was seeing the at times untouchable wrestlers both get taken down by their opponents. Despite giving up the points, Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson was excited to see their response after it and how they bounced back.
"Our guys generally wrestle pretty hard and their guys wrestle pretty hard. Zain gives up a takedown, but he just keeps wrestling. Nolf gave up a takedown, but he just keeps wrestling," said Sanderson. "That's what we want to see. There's seven minutes for a reason and we want to use every second of those seven minutes."
Retherford, who for the first time in the dual schedule, was taken down by an opponent as Michigan's Alec Pantaleo recorded a second period score. Being in an unfamiliar situation, Retherford stuck to his wrestling style and worked his way out from underneath Pantaleo to get back on his feet.
"Before a match, I'm thinking about if a guy takes me down, so what? Do the same stuff that I always do. Get up, get out on bottom, get back to your feet and go work where you want to work," said Retherford.
The biggest key in Retherford's eventual pin of the sixth-ranked Wolverine was his hand fighting, something that the sophomore has been working on extensively this season. This is a new technique that Sanderson preaches to the whole team.
"I think that's something that we do as a program. We spend a lot of time hand fighting and hand fighting correctly, hand fighting with a purpose," said Sanderson.
Retherford has been Sanderson's prodigy with this technique and the coach's biggest amazement has been the willingness of the sophomore to try something new.
"Zain's one of the few guys that I've been coaching for a few years, but very few kids make those adjustments because they've had success up to this point and they are going to stick with what they are confident in and it's hard to make changes like that," said Sanderson. "Hand fighting, it is very rare, but that's how you see guys improve."
Hand fighting in the neutral position allows shots to the legs to open up, creating opportunities to score.
"It's the way they are using their hands to control the tie ups and create opportunities to score," said Sanderson. "Zain's doing that as well as anyone I've ever coached. Its fun to watch him wrestle."
This strategy is what allowed Retherford as his match got later and later, to open up the legs and allow him to accumulate four takedowns during the afternoon.
"I felt him and I can hear him breathing a little heavier as the period started winding down, so I'm like 'Just stay patient, keep doing what you are doing,'" said Retherford. "Eventually his legs opened up, so yea I think heavy hands definitely opens up your leg attacks, but you just can't just be all up top or else nothing's going to get done."
The two are competing at such a high level, as if they are more driven to outshine each other than just focusing on beating their opponents. This friendly rivalry has benefitted the team in the eyes of Sanderson and he thinks the team can feed off of their energy.
"I think they give each other confidence," said Sanderson. "I'm not sure if it's real common, but I'm sure that Nolf see's Zain going out there and wrestling very well and he thinks, 'well I'm going to do the same thing.' I don't know if they are trying to one-up each other or anything like that, but it's a friendly competition."
Besides feeding off the energy, the competition can allow for teaching moments, as wrestlers on the team can take notice to certain styles and tricks each are doing. Finally, Sanderson also believes that both Retherford and Nolf are serving as the perfect examples of the style that Penn State wants to wrestle at.
"You see that this is a pattern that works and it's working for Zain, so maybe I should give it a shot and wrestle the same way. And that's what we want. We want high school kids that want to wrestle and score points and make conditioning a factor," said Sanderson. "We want them watching our matches think that's where I want to go to school and that's how I want to wrestle or that's how I do wrestle. We should get the right kids that want to wrestle that certain way."