As redshirt freshman Zeth Romney stood on the winner’s podium – accepting a third-place award – at the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships earlier this season, he looked around and realized who he was standing next to.
The No. 31 ranked 133-pounder at the time stood among notable wrestlers such as Mason Leiphart, ranked No. 27 from Franklin and Marshall, Dylan Shawver, ranked No. 26 from Rutgers, Michael Colaiocco, an All-American from the University of Pennsylvania, ranked No. 8, and Sam Latona, a two-time All-American ranked No. 5 from Virginia Tech.
Romney wasn’t expected to get this far in such a prestigious tournament and he wasn’t expected to pull off the upsets he did. He wasn’t expected to place the second-highest any Mustang has finished in the tournament. He was only a redshirt freshman, but he showed everyone in this tournament that this was only the beginning.
“Zeth has the athleticism, has the technique and he has the endurance to wrestle with anyone in the world,” Cal Poly Men’s Wrestling head coach Jon Sioredas said.
Since then, Romney has skyrocketed up multiple wrestling outlet rankings and is currently ranked No. 12 in Intermat Wrestling’s 133-pound weight class rankings.
A life in love with wrestling
Romney started wrestling early on at six years old, mainly due to his high energy as a kid. His parents tried putting him into football and a couple of other sports, but nothing spoke to him like wrestling.
“I just fell in love with it, [but] it was hard growing up with wrestling as a kid,” Romney said. “You get beat up a lot.”
Romney stuck with wrestling and ended up becoming a three-time California state place winner across three different weight classes at Chaminade College Prep, which earned him a spot in FloWrestling’s top 100 high school recruit rankings, according to FloWrestling.
He was a highly touted recruit out of high school and garnered plenty of attention from a number of schools, including Cal Poly.
The recruitment process was a unique one since much of the recruiting was done over Zoom during the height of the pandemic. This didn’t allow Romney to tour most college campuses, which is unusual for a top-tier recruit.
“[We] had some good quality conversation with both him and his parents, and we were able to talk throughout our core values and our vision for the program,” Sioredas said. “It just seemed to be a great fit from day one.”
After much deliberation and consideration of his options, Romney announced his verbal commitment to Cal Poly via California USA Wrestling’s Instagram page on Aug. 25, 2021.
Despite having interest from a variety of programs, Romney felt there was something about Cal Poly that no other school could offer him.
“When I came here, I saw that you can grow as a wrestler and work hard and also have fun and enjoy what you’re doing,” Romney said. “The team and coaches just made that point that we’re trying to be better people… it doesn’t matter our wins and losses.”
Lessons from a redshirt year
Once Romney stepped on the mat for the Mustangs, there was a lot of fine-tuning to his technique, but Sioredas and the coaching staff knew what they needed to do.
“A lot of the work last year was trying to settle him in a little bit and be a little bit more strategic,” Sioredas said. “He’s always been a wrestler that just throws the whole kitchen sink at you.”
As a result, the coaching staff decided to redshirt Romney for his first season, which gave him the opportunity to sit behind some of the key starters on the team and learn from them.
That opportunity to sit for most of the season and get acclimated to the college experience allowed Romney to focus on getting better without the pressure of having to wrestle every single time there was a dual or a tournament.
It also showed him that he wouldn’t be treated any differently from the guys who were actually wrestling every bout.
“It taught me to just come in everyday and have fun when I wrestle,” Romney said.
With that mindset, the coaching staff could hone in on his technique and elevate his capability as a wrestler.
NCAA wrestling rules allow five appearances for redshirt athletes, whether that be in tournaments or duals. In those five appearances, Romney had an overall record of 7-2 and won both of his dual appearances, capturing the 141-pound title in the Menlo Open and placing fourth at the Tiger Style Invitational, according to Cal Poly Athletics.
These appearances provided the coaching staff with many opportunities to provide feedback on his game, including finding the perfect weight class to wrestle at.
During this past offseason, Romney wrestled in a U20 tournament in Las Vegas to test what a move down to 133 pounds would look like after sitting between 133 and 141 pounds when he wasn’t on the mat.
But that tournament didn’t go as smoothly as planned in the weight-cutting department. So, the coaching staff immediately helped put Romney on a diet that would put him in a position to be as successful as he has been this season.
“He’s done a good job with his nutrition and his discipline with his diet,” Sioredas said. “He’s at his optimal performance weight and doesn’t have to worry about cutting weight.”
Lightning in a bottle
Since the start of this season, Romney has climbed the national rankings in his weight class.
He co-led Cal Poly to a No. 23 team ranking in the NCAA Coaches Poll earlier in the season, along with No. 5 ranked 149-pounder redshirt sophomore Chance Lamer and held a seven-bout winning streak, prior to their dual with No. 20 Little Rock, with a 17-6 overall record on the season, according to Cal Poly Athletics.
The No. 12 ranked 133-pounder also placed third in the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships and Tiger Style Invitational earlier this season, along with earning two Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week awards, the first time in program history that a Mustang won the award twice in one season.
Despite all of these early successes, accolades and high rankings, Romney is keeping his head down and not letting all of the noise affect him.
“It doesn’t matter the number associated with me or who I’m wrestling, more so just becoming a better person and a better wrestler and seeing how I can grow my craft,” Romney said.