It was a jarring display of dominance that left Brent Metcalf astonished and intrigued. 

The two-time NCAA champion trained almost daily with Brandon Sorensen inside the Iowa wrestling room. He knew what type of skills and strength the Hawkeye 149-pounder possessed, which made it all the more stunning when Metcalf watched Penn State’s Zain Retherford score a quick takedown and crank Sorensen over for a first-period fall in the 2017 NCAA semifinals. 

“I remember thinking, ‘Wow, that kid must be so damned strong,’” Metcalf said. “I was just ending my freestyle career, and I remember thinking, ‘Man, I need to go to a training camp just to get my hands on that guy because I’ve got to feel it.’ I’ve wrestled Sorensen enough to know that you just don’t throw him down, flip him over and pin him. I was like, ‘I kind of want to feel this guy and feel what this is all about.’” 

Game recognizes game — and there’s plenty of mutual respect between the two leading vote-getters for the 149-pound spot on Flowrestling’s All-Quarter Century Team presented by Defense Soap. 

“I loved (Metcalf’s) style growing up,” Retherford said. “His pace and pressure, it just felt like he was always pulling on guys, wasn’t really giving them a chance to breathe, and I liked that style of wrestling. Super dominant on his feet and made you feel his pressure.” 

For more than two decades, college wrestling’s fourth-lightest weight class served as the sport’s most volatile territory. There were 10 different champions during the final 10 years of the 142-pound class, which was adjusted to 149 in 1999. Then there were 11 different champs in the first 11 years when 149 came into play. 

Metcalf provided a bit of stability to the weight when he became the first two-time champ in more than two decades. During his three seasons at Iowa, he compiled a 108-3 record, racking up bonus points in 85 matches, reaching the NCAA finals three times and winning titles in 2008 and 2010. 

He navigated through perhaps the greatest bracket in NCAA history in 2008, winning the title at a weight that included six eventual national champs and three more finalists. That run helped Metcalf capture the Hodge Trophy and it came amid a 69-match winning streak. 

That string of victories came to a stunning end the next year when got upset by another All-Quarter Century Team finalist — North Carolina State’s Darrion Caldwell, who knocked off Metcalf 11-6 in the 2009 title bout, preventing him from becoming the first repeat champ at the weight since Pat Santoro went back-to-back in 1988-89. 

“It was the curse and I knew it, too,” Metcalf said. “I was a record book guy. I don’t know why. I looked at them and I wanted to break them all. I remember being like, ‘No one’s ever won this back to back.’ That’s why I give Zain a ton of credit.” 

After a 33-3 true freshman season at 141 pounds that culminated in a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships, Retherford redshirted during his second year on campus at Penn State. Then he moved up to 149 and spent three years demolishing the competition. He became the first three-time NCAA champion at college wrestling’s fourth-lightest weight class since Northern Iowa’s Keith Young accomplished the feat from 1949-51. 

Retherford went 93-0 at 149, scored bonus points in 81 of those bouts, notched 49 falls and registered 32 technical falls. In his 15 NCAA tournament matches at the weight class, he piled up seven technical falls, five pins and a major decision. 

“I appreciate dominance,” Metcalf said. “I appreciate guys who can separate the gap, and he was certainly that guy.”

Retherford put college wrestling on notice a little more than a month into his freshman season when he knocked off two-time NCAA champ Logan Stieber of Ohio State. 

“It gave me some confidence that I was ready,” Retherford said. “I was an 18-year-old kid wrestling a guy who was already a two-time national champ. I had Penn State fans before the match telling me don’t get pinned and don’t give up bonus points. 

“My high school wrestling coach even told me to be ready and not give up bonus points. It definitely motivated me. I kinda laughed. It took some pressure off, too. There was no expectation from the fans.”

That quickly changed and expectations soon soared. 

With the help of Penn State assistant Casey Cunningham, Retherford dialed in on adding top-position scoring holds to his arsenal during his redshirt season. He scored pins or technical falls in 16.7 percent of his matches as a true freshman. That figure skyrocketed to 74.2 percent during his final three seasons. 

In 2016, Retherford became the first 149-pounder to win the Hodge Trophy since Metcalf in 2008. He won college wrestling’s most prestigious individual award again in 2017. 

Just before hanging up after a phone interview about the All-Quarter Century Team, Metcalf added one more comment. 

“My vote’s for Zain,” he said. “He deserves it.” 

The Results Are In 

The Flowrestling team started with every NCAA champion from the last 25 years and pared the list down to four at every weight after tabulating the results of a staff vote. We let wrestling fans weigh in with a social media vote, and the results are in at 149 pounds. 

1. Penn State’s Zain Retherford

2. Iowa’s Brent Metcalf 

3. Arizona State’s Eric Larkin

4. North Carolina State’s Darrion Caldwell 

The First-Teamers

125 — Iowa’s Spencer Lee

133 — Ohio State’s Logan Stieber

141 — Cornell’s Yianni Diakomihalis 

149 — Penn State’s Zain Retherford 

Facts, Figures And Those Who Missed The Final Cut At 149

— The last quarter century has produced 20 different NCAA champions at 149 pounds. 

— There only three multi-time champs at the weight during that 25-year stretch — Metcalf, Retherford and Diakomihalis. 

— Earlier this week we broke down the 149-pound candidates and the weight’s volatility. 

— Sixteen different schools won a 149-pound NCAA title during the last 25 years, led by Penn State’s four. Cornell was second with three. Iowa, Minnesota and Oklahoma State each won two titles. 

— Penn State led the field with six finals appearances at 149 during the last 25 years. Iowa was second with five, followed by Minnesota, Ohio State and Oklahoma State with four each. 

— Seniors collected 11 of the 24 titles at 149 pounds since 2001. Juniors and sophomores tied for second with five, followed by freshmen with three.