AKRON, Ohio – Pennsylvania’s Zain Retherford was a deserving choice as the Outstanding Wrestler of the FILA Cadet Nationals freestyle tournament.

Retherford capped a superb performance in winning the loaded weight class at 63 kg/138.75 lbs. on Sunday morning at the University of Akron Field House.

Retherford rallied to beat Bryce Brill of Illinois 2-3, 4-1, 2-1 in an action-packed, back-and-forth finals bout.

“It’s awesome – it’s unbelievable to have a chance to wrestle at the Cadet Worlds. That was my goal coming in here,” Retherford said. “I bumped up one weight class for this competition and it really paid off. I got eight or nine good matches in and every match was tough. It was a great experience.”

The champion in each FILA Cadet weight class qualifies to represent the United States at the FILA Cadet World Championships on Aug. 21-27 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Minnesota’s Tommy Thorn of Minnesota repeated as champion after winning the title at 50 kg/110.25 lbs. Thorn downed Indiana’s Stevan Micic 3-3, 5-0 in th finals.

2011 Cadet Nationals champion Chance Marsteller of Pennsylvania looked strong in earning a championship at 76 kg/167.5 lbs. Marsteller swept Oklahoma’s Zachary Beard 3-0, 6-0 in the finals.

“It’s very exciting – it’s amazing to have the opportunity to wrestle at Cadet Worlds,” said the 16-year-old Marsteller, who still has two years of high school left. “I’ve been waiting for this tournament for a while to redeem myself from Wisconsin at FILA Juniors. I am ready to go overseas and finally see international competition for the first time. I’m pretty pumped for it. I’m more excited about winning this than I was Fargo because I’ve been wanting to wrestle international competition.”

Arizona's Garrett Ryan won his second title of the weekend after winning the freestyle crown at 100 kg/220.5 lbs. He was the only FILA Cadet Nationals double champion after winning a Greco-Roman title on Friday.

Past Cadet Triple Crown champion Mitch Sliga of Indiana swept Eric Morris of Pennsylvania 1-0, 2-0 in the finals at 85 kg/187.25 lbs. Sliga won two ball draws after both periods were scoreless after two minutes. Sliga finished in the leg clinch in both periods to sweep Morris.

FILA Cadets are athletes who are 15-17 years old.

FILA CADET NATIONALS FREESTYLE – FINALS

42 kg/92.5 lbs.
Andrew Nieman (Oklahoma) dec. Christopher Cuccolo (New York), 5-0, 5-0

46 kg/101.25 lbs.
Jordan Kutler (New Jersey) dec. Mitchell McKee (Minnesota), 3-1, 6-0

50 kg/110.25 lbs.
Tommy Thorn (Minnesota) dec. Stevan Micic (Indiana), 3-3, 5-0

54 kg/119 lbs.
Joseph McKenna (New Jersey) dec. Zac Hall (Michigan), 7-0, 1-0

58 kg/127.75 lbs.
Seth Gross (Minnesota) dec. Anthony Giraldo (New Jersey), 1-0, 1-2, 2-1

63 kg/138.75 lbs.
Zain Retherford (Pennsylvania) dec. Bryce Brill (Illinois), 2-3, 4-1, 2-1

69 kg/152 lbs.
Jack Bass (Texas) dec. Bo Nickal (Texas), 4-0, 4-0

76 kg/167.5 lbs.
Chance Marsteller (Pennsylvania) dec. Zachary Beard (Oklahoma), 3-0, 6-0

85 kg/187.25 lbs.
Mitch Sliga (Indiana) dec. Eric Morris (Pennsylvania), 1-0, 2-0

100 kg/220.5 lbs.
Garrett Ryan (Arizona) dec. Trae Story (Minnesota), 2-1, 2-1

125 kg/275.5 lbs.
Nathan Butler (Kansas) dec. Billy Miller (Ohio), 4-2, 7-0