FORT WORTH, Texas – On the final day at Senior Nationals, redshirt senior Zahid Valencia notched the second Sun Devil in as many days to win a Senior Nationals title, as he won the 86-kg championship in men's freestyle. Zahid's brother Anthony Valencia moved his way through the consolation bracket to earn fifth place and guarantee a spot at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Z. Valencia (86 kg) and A. Valencia (74 kg) join freshman heavyweight Cohlton Schultz as the three representatives from ASU that will go on to compete at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials, set to take place April 4-5 in State College, Pennsylvania. Schultz qualified on Saturday after winning the title at 130-kg in Greco-Roman.
In the championship finale at 86 kg, Z. Valencia took on Miles Martin, a 2016 National Champion from Ohio State. The two last met at the UWW Junior Nationals in Las Vegas, where Valencia topped Martin in the final, 7-0. The rematch would turn out to be a little closer this time around, as Valencia went on to beat Martin, 7-5, to take the title at 86-kg.
At 74 kg, Valencia opened up with a 10-0 superiority victory over Alec Pantaleo, advancing to the consolation semifinals. In a highly contested match with Thomas Gantt, A. Valencia controlled a comfortable 10-4 lead in the second frame before Gantt came all the way back to win, 13-12.
In Anthony's last hope of moving on to State College, he had to go through No. 1 ranked Nazar Kulchytskyy to earn a top-five spot. Valencia arguably wrestled one of his best matches of the weekend, defeating Kulchystyy, 11-1 by superiority.
ASU will enjoy the holiday break before getting back into its competition schedule in 2020, as the Devils will open the new year in Columbus, Ohio, to face top-five ranked Ohio State, Jan. 6 at 5 p.m. MST. Fans will have the chance to watch the match live on FS1.
Z. Valencia (86 kg) and A. Valencia (74 kg) join freshman heavyweight Cohlton Schultz as the three representatives from ASU that will go on to compete at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials, set to take place April 4-5 in State College, Pennsylvania. Schultz qualified on Saturday after winning the title at 130-kg in Greco-Roman.
In the championship finale at 86 kg, Z. Valencia took on Miles Martin, a 2016 National Champion from Ohio State. The two last met at the UWW Junior Nationals in Las Vegas, where Valencia topped Martin in the final, 7-0. The rematch would turn out to be a little closer this time around, as Valencia went on to beat Martin, 7-5, to take the title at 86-kg.
At 74 kg, Valencia opened up with a 10-0 superiority victory over Alec Pantaleo, advancing to the consolation semifinals. In a highly contested match with Thomas Gantt, A. Valencia controlled a comfortable 10-4 lead in the second frame before Gantt came all the way back to win, 13-12.
In Anthony's last hope of moving on to State College, he had to go through No. 1 ranked Nazar Kulchytskyy to earn a top-five spot. Valencia arguably wrestled one of his best matches of the weekend, defeating Kulchystyy, 11-1 by superiority.
ASU will enjoy the holiday break before getting back into its competition schedule in 2020, as the Devils will open the new year in Columbus, Ohio, to face top-five ranked Ohio State, Jan. 6 at 5 p.m. MST. Fans will have the chance to watch the match live on FS1.