UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; September 19, 2023 – Former Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling greats Zain Retherford and David Taylor both won world titles by dominating the field at the United World Wrestling 2023 World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. A total of seven members of the Penn State Olympic Regional Training Center/Nittany Lion Wrestling Club competed at the event.
Five competed in men's freestyle, two in women's freestyle and six of the seven wrestled for Team USA. Five of the RTC's seven competitors came home with world medals.
Former Nittany Lion Zain Retherford won his first world Gold Medal at 70 kg after taking Silver last year. Retherford went 4-0 at the event, capping off his title run with a thrilling 8-5 win over Iran's Amirmohammad Yazdani in the finals. Retherford also took down competitors from Tajikistan, Armenia and the UWW's unaffiliated contingent.
Former Nittany Lion David Taylor won his fourth World/Olympic Gold Medal at 86 kg, dominating the field in the process. Taylor pinned Iran's Hassan Yazdani in the world title bout and was leading 9-3 at the time of the fall. Taylor went 5-0 overall, with three falls and two technical falls (including a :14 pin in the opening round). Taylor has now won an Olympic Gold Medal (2022 at the Tokyo Games), three World Championships (2018, 2022, 2023) and one World Silver (2021) for the United States.
Penn State RTC's Kyle Dake won the World Silver Medal at 74 kg. Dake won his first four matches to advance to the championship bout where he dropped a hard-fought 10-7 decision to Zaurbek Sidakov in the finals. Dake went 4-1 overall with a technical fall to earn the Silver Medal. Dake has four World Championships, a World Silver and an Olympic Bronze Medal on his resume to date.
Penn State RTC's Kyle Snyder earned a World Bronze Medal at 97 kg for Team USA. Snyder went 4-1 overall, including two technical falls, to claim the medal. He earned a forfeit victory in the Bronze Medal bout. Snyder has won three World Championships, has two World Silver Medals and two World Bronze Medals (including this year's). He won the 2016 Olympic Gold Medal and earned the Olympic Silver in 2020.
Former Nittany Lion Nick Lee made his first appearance in the World Championships for the United States at 65 kg. Lee bolted out to a 3-0 start, including a second-round pin, before dropping a tough 7-4 decision to the defending World Champion, Rahman Amouzadkhalili of Iran, in the quarterfinals. Lee appeared prepped to move into the repechage when Amouzadkhalili gave up a last second score to lose his next bout, ending Lee's tournament run at 3-1.
On the women's side of the ledger, Jennifer Page represented the United States and the Penn State RTC at 59 kg and wrestled her way to a World Bronze Medal. Page won her first two bouts of the tournament, including a first-round win by technical fall. She then dropped a hard-fought 5-1 match to China's Qi Zhan Zhang in the semifinals. The loss dropped her to the Bronze Medal match, where she pinned Azerbaijan's Alyona Kolesnik midway through the opening period. Page went 3-1 to claim the 2023 Bronze Medal.
Jane Valencia, wrestling for Mexico, competed at 57 kg. Valencia won her first two bouts, including an 11-0 technical fall in the second round. She lost to Azerbaijan's Zhala Aliyeva in her third match and Aliyeva dropped her subsequent bout, ending Valencia's tournament at 2-1.
The 2022-23 Penn State Wrestling season is presented by the Family Clothesline. Penn State Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via twitter at @pennstateWREST, on Penn State Wrestling's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/pennstatewrest. This is PENN STATE. WRESTLING lives here.
