[3] One of the most successful Penn State Nittany Lion wrestlers of all time, Retherford was a two-time Dan Hodge Trophy winner and a three-time NCAA Division I National champion.

Russ Hughes, his high school coach, states that it was in this time when Retherford started to really focus and grow as a wrestler.

He made his way to the Big Ten Conference finals to face defending NCAA champion (eventual four-timer) Logan Stieber, whom he lost to by 4 points, making him the runner-up of the tournament.

[11] At the NCAA championships, Retherford defeated an unseeded opponent in the first round and also the eleventh and fourteenth seeds before losing to the second-seeded Logan Stieber once again.

After losing in the semifinals, he faced and lost to top-seeded Mitchell Port in the consolation semis, ending his run at the tournament and placing fifth, which earned him All-American status.

[12] In this season, Retherford chose to redshirt to focus on training and freestyle, placing second at the Junior World Team Trials and fourth at the 2015 Dave Schultz Memorial International.

He ended the season with a 28–0 mark with seventeen pins, seven techs and a major, near to a 90 percent of bonus points in matches.

[20] At the US Olympic Team Trials, Retherford defeated James Green (9-2) in the preliminary match and advanced to the quarterfinals, where he faced Logan Stieber, whom he lost to (6-8).

[21] At the US Open, Retherford placed third after losing to Jordan Oliver in the semifinals, qualifying for the World Team Trials Tournament.

[24] At the World Championships, Retherford teched (10-0) David Habat in the opening match but subsequently lost to Adam Batirov (4-6), getting eliminated and placing eleventh.

[25] At the Ivan Yarygin Golden Grand Prix, he lost in the opening bout to Gadzhimurad Rashidov (3-4) and got eliminated, placing eighth.

[27] At the Challenge Tournament, he defeated Dean Heil, Frank Molinaro and Jordan Oliver twice before competing at Final X: Rutgers against Yianni Diakomihalis.

[30] He was then scheduled to compete at the Pan American Games, however, he was forced to pull out a week before the event and was replaced by Jaydin Eierman.

[39] After six months without being able to compete, Retherford returned to the mats against three–time NCAA Division I All-American Alec Pantaleo on September 19 at the NLWC I,[40] whom he outscored 3 points to 2.

[41] He then won by technical fall against three–time US National Champion and World Team Member Reece Humphrey on November 24, at the NLWC III.

[42] Retherford avenged his loss to Bajrang Punia at the Matteo Pellicone, when he flawlessly defeated him 6–0 at the NLWC IV of December 22.

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