After a breakout season terrorizing opposing offenses for the Kutztown football team last fall, defensive lineman Freddie Retter had earned himself some well-deserved rest.

But after a few weeks of going stir-crazy off the gridiron, the then-redshirt junior Retter – who tallied 43 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, and 7.5 sacks a season ago for the Golden Bears – was growing restless by the time winter break rolled around.

• Subscribe To FloCollege To Watch Division 2 Football In 2025
• D2 Football Rankings 2025 Week 1: Ferris State, GVSU Win; UTPB, CWU Climb
• List of Division II And Division III Football Alumni To Make 53-Man Rosters

His solution? To reach out to the wrestling program and offer to give the team some extra help in the practice room, having been an accomplished high school wrestler in Pennsylvania, in exchange for a way to both cure his boredom and stay in shape.

The Kutztown wrestling team, by then almost two months into its season, obliged. But neither Retter nor the program really knew at the time what it would eventually lead to.

“It sounds crazy, but I was bored sitting at home,” Retter said. “So I thought maybe I would go out and practice with the wrestling team to at least keep my cardio up. And the coaches, I guess, recognized that I had potential to do something (last) year, and they said they were willing to give me a chance if I was willing to put in the work.

“I said that there was nothing more I’d like than to get an opportunity, and after that, it’s about making the most of your opportunities.”

Now, after a year of being a dual-sport collegiate athlete, it’s safe to say Retter has taken his chances and run with them.

In the same school year in which he was named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division Defensive Athlete of the Year on the football field, Retter, despite having months of catch-up to do on the wrestling mat, exploded onto the scene this past winter by finishing fifth at heavyweight at the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships, earning All-American status along the way.

It was a jam-packed 2024-25 schedule for Retter that culminated in him being bestowed as KU’s Male Athlete of the Year and now has him as both one of the top returning defensive linemen and 285-pounders in D-II football and wrestling, respectively.

Was it all tiring? A bit, Retter said, but once he shook off the early rust and became the Golden Bears’ starting heavyweight, getting his hand raised on a consistent basis became like clockwork.

“Getting back into shape was a little rough,” Retter said of his first few college wrestling practices. “I had to take lots of breaks in the beginning. But you just keep grinding, keep pushing, and there’s that little bit of (drive) of you want to show everyone what you’re made of. 

“It was cool because my football coaches were also OK with me doing this. That’s a pretty big commitment on everyone’s part, especially football coaches; a lot of coaches would say, ‘No, focus on football.’ But I guess with the reputation that I have, they understood that I would still be locked in with football and that if this was something I wanted to do, they would be OK with me doing it.”

It’s been a meteoric rise in both sports for Retter, who has a serious chance over the next few months to pull off the one-of-a-kind feat of being both a Cliff Harris Award winner (given to the best defensive player in D-II) and a national champion wrestler in the same year.

Up first, however, is football. Retter and the Golden Bears have some unfinished business to take care of in that regard.

Kutztown football in 2024 rolled to an unbeaten regular season, a second straight PSAC championship, and a ranking as high as No. 3 in both major national D-II polls before conference rival Slippery Rock upset the Golden Bears in overtime in the first round of the playoffs, knocking out KU on a wild hook-and-ladder two-point conversion play that went viral. 

Ranked No. 7 in the preseason AFCA D2 Coaches Poll and 11th in the FloCollege D2 Football Rankings, with a bye on opening weekend (starting the season Sept. 4 at home against Assumption), Kutztown returns Retter – arguably the country’s top D-lineman – and six other starters on a defense that allowed a national-low 10.2 points per game in 2024.

The Golden Bears made their first national semifinal in 2023 and are yearning to break through and compete for a national championship for the first time in program history this fall. With the luxury of experience – something few D-II teams can claim in the current college football climate – Retter believes the pieces are there for KU to make a serious push toward a trophy.

“I think we’re in a really good spot,” Retter said. “Our young guys are coming in and competing, and the older guys are matching their intensity, which is cool to see. There are no old guys taking reps off just because they’re older guys. … Everyone is working for this goal, and everyone sees it, everyone feels it.”

As for wrestling, barring a football injury, Retter plans to get going again on the mat as soon as the football season finishes up, looking to improve upon a 10-3 record in his first collegiate season that included a highlight victory at nationals against Nebraska-Kearney’s Crew Howard, the heavyweight bracket’s previously-unbeaten top seed.

Retter is a man with a plan nowadays, after a spur-of-the-moment decision altered the course of his college athletics career. That plan, if all goes well, will include plenty of wins throughout the fall and winter.

“To continue to play at a high level, it takes a lot of mental toughness,” Retter said. “I’m not saying we’ve lacked that in years past, but I think that this year we can really take a big jump in that aspect of things. … I think we have that maturity, and we have the coaching (and) we have the ability to do that. Players coming together and playing for each other, this is all things you hear all the time, but that’s really what makes a difference.”

FloCollege D2 Football Rankings 2025: Week 1

1. Ferris State (Prev. 1)
2. Harding (Prev. 2)
3. Grand Valley State (Prev. 3)
4. Slippery Rock (Prev. 4)
5. Virginia Union (Prev. 9)
6. West Florida (Prev. 7)
7. Valdosta State (Prev. 5)
8. Angelo State (Prev. 10)
9. Western Colorado (Prev. 14)
10. Minnesota State (Prev. 11)
11. Kutztown (Prev. 8)
12. Indianapolis (Prev. 15)
13. Charleston (WV) (Prev. 12)
14. CSU Pueblo (Prev. 13)
15. UT Permian Basin (Prev. NR)
16. Central Washington (Prev. NR)
17. Pittsburg State (Prev. 16)
18. West Alabama (Prev. 20)
19. Ouachita Baptist (Prev. 18)
20. Central Oklahoma (Prev. 6)
21. Bemidji State (Prev. 17)
22. Truman (Prev. 23)
23. Lenoir–Rhyne (Prev. 19)
24. Michigan Tech (Prev. NR)
25. Wingate (Prev. NR)

Also received votes: 

MSU Moorhead, Emory & Henry, Central Missouri, Colorado Mines, Catawba, Delta State, Minnesota Duluth, Augustana (SD), Sioux Falls

Previous D2 Football Rankings

• Preseason

Methodology For 2025-26 Top 25 D2 Rankings

The FloCollege Division 2 football rankings are driven by a mix of objective data and input from voters.

Ranking factors include:

• Voter Points
• Wins
• Margin of Victory
• Away Wins

D2 College Football Week 1 Games 2025

Thursday, September 4, 2025

• 6:00 p.m. ET – Charleston (WV) vs California (PA)
• 6:00 p.m. ET – Tiffin vs Wayne State (MI)
• 6:00 p.m. ET – Clarion vs West Virginia Wesleyan
• 7:00 p.m. ET – Southern Nazarene vs Henderson State
• 7:00 p.m. ET – Frostburg State vs Millersville
• 7:00 p.m. ET – Oklahoma Baptist vs Southern Arkansas
• 7:00 p.m. ET – Harding vs Northwestern Oklahoma
• 7:00 p.m. ET – Assumption vs Kutztown
• 7:00 p.m. ET – Arkansas–Monticello vs Southeastern Oklahoma
• 7:00 p.m. ET – Ashland vs Indiana (PA)
• 7:00 p.m. ET – Arkansas Tech vs Southwestern Oklahoma
• 7:00 p.m. ET – Pace vs East Stroudsburg
• 7:00 p.m. ET – Bloomsburg vs Fairmont State
• 8:00 p.m. ET – Fort Hays State vs CSU Pueblo
• 8:00 p.m. ET – Ouachita Baptist vs East Central
• 8:00 p.m. ET – Michigan Tech vs South Dakota Mines
• 9:00 p.m. ET – Colorado School of Mines vs West Texas A&M

Friday, September 5, 2025

• 6:00 p.m. ET – Slippery Rock vs Franklin Pierce

Saturday, September 6, 2025

• 12:00 p.m. ET – Northern Michigan vs Northwood
• 12:00 p.m. ET – West Alabama vs Chowan
• 12:00 p.m. ET – Thomas More vs Dayton
• 12:00 p.m. ET – Barton vs West Virginia State
• 12:00 p.m. ET – UIndy vs Findlay
• 12:00 p.m. ET – Valdosta State vs Johnson C. Smith
• 12:00 p.m. ET – Lincoln (PA) vs Duquesne
• 12:00 p.m. ET – West Chester vs Bentley
• 1:00 p.m. ET – West Florida vs Kentucky Wesleyan
• 1:00 p.m. ET – Bowie State vs Shippensburg
• 1:00 p.m. ET – Catawba vs Emory & Henry
• 1:00 p.m. ET – Erskine vs Anderson (SC)
• 1:00 p.m. ET – Seton Hill vs West Liberty
• 1:00 p.m. ET – Concord vs Bluefield State
• 1:00 p.m. ET – Hillsdale vs McKendree
• 1:00 p.m. ET – Truman State vs Butler
• 1:30 p.m. ET – Ferrum vs VMI
• 2:00 p.m. ET – Ferris State vs Lake Erie
• 2:00 p.m. ET – Jamestown vs Augustana (SD)
• 2:00 p.m. ET – Quincy vs Roosevelt
• 2:00 p.m. ET – Minot State vs Minnesota State
• 2:00 p.m. ET – Gannon vs Saginaw Valley
• 2:00 p.m. ET – Northwest Missouri State vs Washburn
• 2:00 p.m. ET – Bemidji State vs Winona State
• 2:00 p.m. ET – Albany State (GA) vs Kentucky State
• 3:00 p.m. ET – Lincoln (MO) vs Lane
• 3:00 p.m. ET – Florida Memorial vs Clark Atlanta
• 3:00 p.m. ET – Miles vs Edward Waters
• 3:05 p.m. ET – Southern Oregon vs Western Oregon
• 5:00 p.m. ET – Elizabeth City State vs Hampton
• 5:00 p.m. ET – Livingstone vs Allen
• 5:00 p.m. ET – Walsh vs Wheeling
• 5:00 p.m. ET – Virginia State vs Norfolk State
• 5:00 p.m. ET – Lenoir-Rhyne vs Tusculum
• 5:00 p.m. ET – Shorter vs Savannah State
• 5:00 p.m. ET – MSU Moorhead vs Southwest Minnesota State
• 5:00 p.m. ET – St. Anselm vs Merrimack
• 5:00 p.m. ET – Fayetteville State vs UNC Pembroke
• 5:00 p.m. ET – Glenville State vs Lock Haven
• 5:00 p.m. ET – American International vs Central Connecticut State
• 5:30 p.m. ET – Winston-Salem vs Mars Hill
• 6:00 p.m. ET – Black Hills State vs Grand Valley State
• 6:00 p.m. ET – Central State (OH) vs Tuskegee
• 6:00 p.m. ET – Missouri S&T vs Northeastern State
• 6:00 p.m. ET – Missouri Southern State vs Southwest Baptist
• 6:00 p.m. ET – Mary vs Wayne State (NE)
• 6:00 p.m. ET – Emporia State vs Angelo State
• 6:00 p.m. ET – Northern State vs Sioux Falls
• 6:30 p.m. ET – Minnesota Duluth vs Concordia–St. Paul
• 7:00 p.m. ET – Western Colorado vs Midwestern State
• 7:00 p.m. ET – UT Permian Basin vs Adams State
• 7:00 p.m. ET – Western New Mexico vs New Mexico Highlands
• 7:00 p.m. ET – Eastern New Mexico vs Colorado Mesa
• 7:00 p.m. ET – Pittsburg State vs Central Oklahoma
• 7:00 p.m. ET – Lincoln (CA) vs Texas A&M–Kingsville
• 7:00 p.m. ET – Central Washington vs Montana
• 7:00 p.m. ET – Chadron State vs Nebraska–Kearney
• 9:00 p.m. ET – Fort Lewis vs Arizona Christian

Watch Lenoir-Rhyne Vs. West Florida From Week 0

How To Watch D2 Football In 2025

Hundreds of Division 2 football games will stream live on FloCollege and the FloSports app. 

Game replays, highlights and breaking news will also be available on both platforms.

Archived Footage On FloCollege

Video footage from all games will be archived and stored in a video library for FloCollege subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscriptions.

Watch The 2025 College Football Season On FloCollege

FloCollege is the home of the best FCS, Division II and Division III football action all season long. 

Don't miss the latest college football action by bookmarking the FloCollege schedule page for the latest games. 

Join The College Football Conversation

• Follow us on Twitter @FloCollegeFB
• Follow us on Instagram @FloCollegeFootball
• Follow us on TikTok @FloCollegeFootball
• Watch us on YouTube
• Like us on Facebook