Penn State wrestling star Zain Retherford has earned an ESPY Awards nomination for Best Male College Athlete.

The honor comes after he secured his second-straight national title at 149 pounds and helped the Nittany Lions to their sixth NCAA Championship in the last seven years.

Retherford up for a 2017 ESPY Award as Best Male College Athlete! Fans can vote soon at https://t.co/oy6eRDO2yp !!! YES!! @ESPYS #PSUwr pic.twitter.com/riTJr0QbMC

— Penn State WRESTLING (@pennstateWREST) June 21, 2017

Retherford is up against Clemson football’s DeShaun Watson, Wake Forest soccer’s Ian Harkes, Kansas basketball’s Frank Mason, and Maryland lacrosse’s Matt Rambo.

Nittany Lions have earned nominations in the past, but no one from Penn State has ever won either the Best Male or Female College Athlete ESPY. However, his coach Cael Sanderson won the first edition of the award in 2002 after taking his fourth consecutive national title. Sanderson is still the only wrestler to win the award.

You can vote for Retherford here.

About the Author

Steve Connelly

Unfortunately, former editor Steve Connelly has graduated. Where is he now? He might be doing something related to that PR degree he got in 2019. Maybe he finally opened that sports bar named after one of his photos, the Blurry Zamboni. Or he might just be eating chicken tenders and couch surfing. Anything’s possible. If you really want to know, follow him on Twitter @slc2o.

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