Zach Roberson, a three-time All-American and 2004 NCAA 133-pound Champion at Iowa State, returns for his second year with the Arizona State University program and will continue to work with the lightweights in the Sun Devil program.
In his first year with the Sun Devils, the young lower-weight wrestlers led the charge for the team as Anthony Robles (125) and Chris Drouin (141) each placed second in the Pac-10 Conference and enter the 2008-09 season ranked in the Top 10 nationally by many wrestling publications, including Robles at No. 5. The duo also competed at the NCAA Championships, falling one victory shy of All-America honors in their first national tournament.
"I am excited to have a talented wrestler like Zach Roberson in our wrestling complex to help our student-athletes prepare to excel this year," Head Coach Thom Ortiz said. "I recruited him in college and knew he was a talented wrestler. He proved that at the collegiate level and is ready to do so on the international level. I look forward to having him train toward making the U.S. Olympic team while helping ASU's wrestlers prepare to compete for Pac-10 and NCAA titles."
Roberson recently moved up in weight to 66kg and competed in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wrestling in Las Vegas and finished in the Top 8 after falling in the first round of the competition. The runner-up at 60kg in the first season of Real Pro Wrestling for the Iowa Stalkers team, Roberson continues to train toward earning a place on the U.S. Senior National Team.
Recruited to Ames, Iowa, by then-assistant coach Ortiz, Roberson placed seventh at the NCAA Championships as a sophomore for his first All-America accolade before taking second as a junior and winning the national title as a senior by defeating Penn State's Josh Moore, 7-3, in the 2004 event. The 2003 Midlands Champion at 133 pounds and Art Kraft Champion of Champions recipient (best exemplifying the qualities of a champion) at the same meet, Roberson also placed third in the Big XII Championships before taking second place as a senior.
Prior to his arrival at ISU, Roberson was a four-time state champion in Kansas, claiming crowns at 103, 112, 119 and 125-pounds before taking runner-up honors at the 125-pound high school national tournament. A recipient of the Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award, which honors academic and wrestling excellence as well as community service, Roberson completed his prep career with an unblemished 153-0 record and won 109 of those bouts by pin fall.