Zahid Valencia joined the ranks of wrestling history and solidified ASU's place in the international spotlight in September, winning the 2025 Senior World Wrestling Championships at 86 kilograms.
Zahid joined current Sun Devil wrestling head coach Zeke Jones as the only ASU alumnus to win the Senior World Championships.
"It's a very small group of people that get to call themselves world champions," Zahid said. "(It's) nice to be on that level, because he was able to succeed for many years."
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The journey to becoming a Senior World Champion isn't an easy one — a path that can feel like life and death, all leads back to the enthusiasm that they developed as a kid.
"It all starts with that love and passion of being a kid," Jones said. "You take that into being the best … like any great champion, that's what they do."
That same passion that it takes to win the Senior World Championship is the passion that Jones puts into building his program and finding the next ASU wrestling phenom.
"I think we've got some in that (wrestling) room right now too: the future Sun Devil World Olympic Champions," Jones said. "It just aspires to what ASU is about."
That's part of the reason that Zahid chose ASU; he saw the vision that Jones had, along with the experience that he brought to the Sun Devil wrestling program. Before his time at ASU, Jones coached USA Wrestling, where Zahid saw Jones' passion before ever setting foot on campus.
"When he first started recruiting us, you could tell," Zahid said. "I'd go in there as a U20 world team member and sometimes we'd share the practice room with the senior-level guys. So I could always see him coaching and teaching."
Before joining the Sun Devils, Jones was the head coach of the USA National Freestyle Wrestling Team and coached in four Olympic Games. This international coaching experience has transcended his abilities as the head coach at ASU, but it's not the only reason athletes are joining his program.
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Cael Valencia, Zahid's brother, is a current wrestler with the Sun Devils. His decision to come to Tempe was highly influenced by his brothers, Zahid and Anthony Valencia, and their success with the program.
"I didn't train with them often, but just watching them and how they worked and the achievements they made, helped drive me to want to be like them," Cael said.
They were certainly a pair to look up to, as Zahid claimed two national titles during his time at ASU, and Anthony was a 4-time Pac-12 champion and 2021 NCAA All-American. This success has become commonplace for ASU wrestling, as the Sun Devils reached 13 individual national championships, the latest being in 2024.
Jones has spent his time building ASU into a national contender and international powerhouse, guiding the Sun Devils to six Pac-12 championships over eight years. This sustained success, combined with his and Zahid's international success, is why Jones believes wrestlers continue to make their way to Tempe.
"Kids can see, 'I can go to ASU and be the best in the world,'" Jones said. "They're doing it, done that and want to continue to do it."
Edited by Jack McCarthy, Senna James and Ellis Preston.
Reach the reporter at aldeutsc@asu.edu and follow @AlanDeutschend3 on X.
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Alan Deutschendorf is a sports editor in his third semester with State Press. He was previously a sports reporter, covering volleyball, softball and a variety of other sports. Alan also works as an Event Assistant in the Edson Events office and is the Social Media Manager for Sun Devils Roundnet.
