CLEVELAND – Avenging his semifinal loss from a season ago, the No. 1 seed and undefeated this year at 174 lbs, Zahid Valencia, defeated the #5 seed from Michigan, Myles Amine, to advance to Saturday night's NCAA Finals of the 2018 NCAA Wrestling Championships.
Z. Valencia became the Sun Devils' first two-time All-American since Bubba Jenkins in 2009/11 and first to earn both All-America honors at Arizona State since Cain Velasquez (2005/06), Brian Stith (2005/06), and Ryan Bader (2004/06).
"For me, it's exciting," said Valencia. "Ever since I was a little kid, it was always the goal to win four Division I titles and go undefeated. Obviously, I came up a little short, but it's still great being in my first national championship. I'm just ready to leave it all out there and it's going to be a fun match."
For the first time since 2011, the Sun Devils have three All-Americans (last: Bubba Jenkins, Anthony Robles, Levi Cooper), as #10 Jason Tsirtsis (149) and #4 Josh Shields (157) also earned All-America status on Friday.
Tsirtsis is the first three-time All-American for ASU since Anthony Robles from 2009-11, as he previously won a national title and garnered an additional All-American honor at Northwestern.
Valencia's NCAA finals match will be a rematch of last year's semifinal loss as he faces the #2 seed, Mark Hall of Penn State, who won a national championship last season as a freshman.
Tsirtsis and Shields will both wrestle for 7th place on Saturday morning, Tsirtsis vs. #8 Boo Lewallen from Oklahoma State and Shields vs. #13 Luke Zilverberg from South Dakota State, looking to avenge a second-round loss from Thursday.
In team scores, the Sun Devils moved back into the top-10 in a tie for 10th with 37 points.
Saturday morning's Medal Rounds will start at 11 am ET/8 am AZ time and will be broadcast on ESPNU with all mats streamed live on Watch ESPN/ESPN3 (http://www.espn.com/watch/). Saturday night's finals will be live on ESPN2/Watch ESPN starting at 8 pm ET/5 pm AZ time.
Sun Devil legends Curley Culp and Dan St. John will be helping hand out awards at Saturday night's awards ceremony.
125 – #15 Ryan Millhof
Consolation Second Round - #15 Ryan Millhof TF Sergio Mendez (CSUB), 17-2 (6:59)
Consolation Quarterfinal-1 - #10 Sebastian Rivera DEC #15 Ryan Millhof, 5-2
149 – #10 Jason Tsirtsis
Quarterfinals – #15 Ronald Perry (Lock Haven) DEC #10 Jason Tsirtsis, 7-4
Consolation Quarterfinal-2 - #10 Jason Tsirtsis DEC Jarrett Degen (Iowa State), 4-3
Consolation Semifinal-1 – #3 Grant Leeth (Mizzou) DEC #10 Jason Tsirtsis, 3-1
157 – #4 Josh Shields
Consolation Second Round – #4 Josh Shields DEC Larry Early (ODU), 7-5
Consolation Quarterfinal-1 - #4 Josh Shields DEC #12 Mitch Finesilver (Duke), 3-2
Consolation Quarterfinal-2 - #4 Josh Shields DEC #15 John Van Brill (Rutgers), 11-9 SV-1
Consolation Semifinal-1 – #6 Michael Kemerer (Iowa) DEC #4 Josh Shields, 6-2
165 – #15 Anthony Valencia
Consolation Second Round - #15 Anthony Valencia DEC Andrew Atkinson (UVA), 4-3
Consolation Quarterfinal-1 – #8 Chandler Rogers (OKST) DEC #15 Anthony Valencia, 10-8
174 – #1 Zahid Valencia
Quarterfinals - #1 Zahid Valencia FALL #8 Jadaen Bernstein (Navy), :38
Semifinals - #1 Zahid Valencia DEC #5 Myles Amine (Michigan), 7-5
HWT – #8 Tanner Hall
Consolation Second Round - #8 Tanner Hall DEC Jeramy Sweany (Cornell), 6-4
Consolation Quarterfinals-1 – Jere Heino (Campbell) DEC #8 Tanner Hall, 5-4
Z. Valencia became the Sun Devils' first two-time All-American since Bubba Jenkins in 2009/11 and first to earn both All-America honors at Arizona State since Cain Velasquez (2005/06), Brian Stith (2005/06), and Ryan Bader (2004/06).
"For me, it's exciting," said Valencia. "Ever since I was a little kid, it was always the goal to win four Division I titles and go undefeated. Obviously, I came up a little short, but it's still great being in my first national championship. I'm just ready to leave it all out there and it's going to be a fun match."
For the first time since 2011, the Sun Devils have three All-Americans (last: Bubba Jenkins, Anthony Robles, Levi Cooper), as #10 Jason Tsirtsis (149) and #4 Josh Shields (157) also earned All-America status on Friday.
Tsirtsis is the first three-time All-American for ASU since Anthony Robles from 2009-11, as he previously won a national title and garnered an additional All-American honor at Northwestern.
Valencia's NCAA finals match will be a rematch of last year's semifinal loss as he faces the #2 seed, Mark Hall of Penn State, who won a national championship last season as a freshman.
Tsirtsis and Shields will both wrestle for 7th place on Saturday morning, Tsirtsis vs. #8 Boo Lewallen from Oklahoma State and Shields vs. #13 Luke Zilverberg from South Dakota State, looking to avenge a second-round loss from Thursday.
In team scores, the Sun Devils moved back into the top-10 in a tie for 10th with 37 points.
Saturday morning's Medal Rounds will start at 11 am ET/8 am AZ time and will be broadcast on ESPNU with all mats streamed live on Watch ESPN/ESPN3 (http://www.espn.com/watch/). Saturday night's finals will be live on ESPN2/Watch ESPN starting at 8 pm ET/5 pm AZ time.
Sun Devil legends Curley Culp and Dan St. John will be helping hand out awards at Saturday night's awards ceremony.
125 – #15 Ryan Millhof
Consolation Second Round - #15 Ryan Millhof TF Sergio Mendez (CSUB), 17-2 (6:59)
Consolation Quarterfinal-1 - #10 Sebastian Rivera DEC #15 Ryan Millhof, 5-2
149 – #10 Jason Tsirtsis
Quarterfinals – #15 Ronald Perry (Lock Haven) DEC #10 Jason Tsirtsis, 7-4
Consolation Quarterfinal-2 - #10 Jason Tsirtsis DEC Jarrett Degen (Iowa State), 4-3
Consolation Semifinal-1 – #3 Grant Leeth (Mizzou) DEC #10 Jason Tsirtsis, 3-1
157 – #4 Josh Shields
Consolation Second Round – #4 Josh Shields DEC Larry Early (ODU), 7-5
Consolation Quarterfinal-1 - #4 Josh Shields DEC #12 Mitch Finesilver (Duke), 3-2
Consolation Quarterfinal-2 - #4 Josh Shields DEC #15 John Van Brill (Rutgers), 11-9 SV-1
Consolation Semifinal-1 – #6 Michael Kemerer (Iowa) DEC #4 Josh Shields, 6-2
165 – #15 Anthony Valencia
Consolation Second Round - #15 Anthony Valencia DEC Andrew Atkinson (UVA), 4-3
Consolation Quarterfinal-1 – #8 Chandler Rogers (OKST) DEC #15 Anthony Valencia, 10-8
174 – #1 Zahid Valencia
Quarterfinals - #1 Zahid Valencia FALL #8 Jadaen Bernstein (Navy), :38
Semifinals - #1 Zahid Valencia DEC #5 Myles Amine (Michigan), 7-5
HWT – #8 Tanner Hall
Consolation Second Round - #8 Tanner Hall DEC Jeramy Sweany (Cornell), 6-4
Consolation Quarterfinals-1 – Jere Heino (Campbell) DEC #8 Tanner Hall, 5-4