2. Sun Devil Wrestling is ranked No. 9 as a team going into the NCAA Wrestling Championships. The team started the season ranked anywhere between No. 22 and No. 29.
3. Redshirt freshman Zahid Valencia is in the race for the Hodge Award, considered to be the "Heisman Trophy" of wrestling, moving up to No. 5 on the NCAA's Most Dominant List. He's 33-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation at 174 lbs.
4. According to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, since 1969 when freshmen were allowed to compete, there have only been two freshmen to go undefeated for the entire season and win the NCAA Wrestling Championships - Cael Sanderson of Iowa State in 1999 and Isaiah Martinez of Illinois in 2015. Zahid Valencia looks to become the third.
5. Coach Zeke Jones wrestled on the 1988 NCAA wrestling championship team at Arizona State for Coach Bobby Douglas. Assistant Coach Chris Pendleton was a two-time NCAA Champion and member of four National Championship teams at Oklahoma State.
6. In 2015, the Sun Devil Wrestling program had the No. 1 recruiting class. All five wrestlers competing at the NCAA Championships next week are part of that class – Josh Maruca (149), Josh Shields (157), Anthony Valencia (165), Zahid Valencia (174), and Tanner Hall (HWT). Hall was the only member of the five to compete last season as a true freshman.
7. ASU Wrestling has five wrestlers competing in next weekend's NCAA championships. Four of them are seeded in the top nine and Zahid Valencia is No. 1 at 174 lbs. Anthony Valencia (165) and Tanner Hall (HWT) are ranked No. 7 in their respective weight classes while Josh Shields (157) is No. 9. Four are (redshirt) freshmen, one is a sophomore.
8. Arizona State alum and national champion in 2011, Anthony Robles, will be part of the broadcast team for the championship finals on ESPN next Saturday night. The entire event will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks, with the Second Round, Semifinals, and Finals broadcast on ESPN. The First Round, Quarterfinals, and Medal Round will be on ESPN and all matches on all mats will be on ESPN3.
BY THE NUMBERS:
- The Sun Devils won the Pac-12 team title for the first time in 11 years this season (since 2006)
- Zahid Valencia was named Most Outstanding Wrestler for the Pac-12 championships, the first for the Sun Devils since Anthony Robles in 2011
- Four of seven Pac-12 Wrestlers of the Week this season were Sun Devils
- ASU defeated Iowa State in Ames, IA for the first time since 1989 in January
- The Sun Devils posted their best finish at January's Virginia Duals since 1997
- ASU had their best finish at December's Midlands Championships since 1989
- The Sun Devils won their first Pac-12 opener of the Zeke Jones era this season
- ASU hosted then-No. 2 Ohio State in November, the best crowd at Wells Fargo Arena for Sun Devil wrestling since 2010
- 149 – Josh Maruca (21-8) vs. No. 1 Zain Retherford (23-0/Penn State) – Maruca faces the No. 1 seed in the 149 lbs. weight class
- 157 – No. 9 Josh Shields (32-7) vs. Jake Faust (9-7/Duke) – Shields is 5-0 vs. common opponents while Faust is 3-4 vs. common opponents and this will be the first all-time meeting between the two
- 165 – No. 7 Anthony Valencia (32-5) vs. Cody Burcher (16-16/Ohio State) – A. Valencia and Cody Burcher faced in back-to-back bouts earlier this season (Nov. 19 in a dual in Tempe, Dec. 2 at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational), with Valencia taking both matches by decision
- 174 – No. 1 Zahid Valencia (33-0) vs. Christopher Pfarr (18-13/Minnesota) – Z. Valencia is 8-0 vs. common opponents while Pfarr is 3-3 vs. common opponents and this will be the first ever meeting between the two
- HWT – No. 7 Tanner Hall (29-5) vs. Dustin Dennison (22-8/Utah Valley) – Hall is 28-9 vs. common opponents over the last two seasons and won a 2-1 decision vs. Dennison on Jan. 21, 2016 in their only collegiate meeting