(Photo: Travis David V Whittaker/WCSN)
If you ask Arizona State Wrestling Head Coach Zeke Jones about where the program is regarding his expectations, his short answer might surprise you. While the ascension of ASU wrestling has been no small feat, Jones made it clear that the mission is far from over.
“It’s incomplete,” he said, hesitating before explaining the concise and underwhelming summation. “We’ve done a lot of good things, but our goal of a national championship has not been met.”
This tunnel vision attitude, while perhaps insufficient in providing true recognition of the program’s success, is largely a reason for it. In recent years, the Sun Devils have consistently shown that they are never satisfied, and are now enjoying the fruits of their labor in a young season that has shown an abundance of promise. Coach Jones deserves a tremendous amount of credit, but he would be the first to say that this year’s senior class, a group Jones refers to as the “first believers,” deserves most of the recognition. Zahid Valencia, Josh Shields and Josh Maruca headline a class that has meant everything to this program.
“Their leadership has been tremendous, both on and off the mat,” Jones said. The leap of faith they took in coming to ASU, and what they’ve brought to the program since has been amazing. I’m going to miss them.”
Those who know ASU wrestling know that this is far from the first time the fifth-year head coach has referenced a “leap of faith” from his beloved seniors. The term triggers memory of a less fruitful time for ASU wrestling. The Devils current No. 6 national ranking was only a pipe dream for a squad that held a humble No. 65 spot and sent just three qualifiers to the NCAA tournament just one year before Jones joined the program. Despite this recent futility, a group of young men saw something special in the making when Jones was hired in 2014.
“With Coach Jones, the reason I really believed in him is because he really believed in us,” senior Josh Shields said. “We knew he had coached so many wrestlers that I looked up to as a kid, so there was no question about his ability to coach and develop good wrestlers. I know he calls us the ‘first believers,’ but I like to say he was the first believer because he believed in us before we really believed in the program.”
This sentiment, echoed by so many of Shields’ teammates, illustrates the tremendous amount of mutual respect ASU wrestling has fostered between its coaches and players. If the Sun Devils do indeed capture that coveted team title in March, the culture in the wrestling room will no doubt be a large reason.
Jones’s hiring is largely thanks to ASU President Michael Crow, who has a background in wrestling and was eager to assist in building a respectable program.
“President Crow deserves a lot of credit for the investment he’s put into this program,” Jones said. “As a guy who’s been involved with wrestling in the past, he’s been a huge asset for us.”
Before the first believers had anything to believe in, Coach Jones had to take a leap of faith of his own in taking over the Sun Devil program. Coming off a tenure coaching the USA Olympic wrestling team, Jones knew he would be in for a challenge, but it was one he was ready to fully embrace. His confidence was reciprocated, and the rest is history.
Another challenge the new staff faced in recruiting was being at a distinct geographical disadvantage compared to national powers in the Midwest and Eastern part of the country. Shields and fellow senior Josh Maruca are both Pennsylvania natives. For two high profile recruits to leave the fertile crescent of NCAA wrestling and go across the country to Arizona speaks volumes of the recruiting ability of Jones and his staff, and the vision for their program they were able to communicate so effectively to their recruits.
“I was always traveling for meets and tournaments when I was a kid, so the prospect of traveling has never been a huge factor for me,” Maruca said. “I definitely was drawn to ASU because of Coach Jones and his approach to the sport and to coaching in general. He was clear in his vision for the program, and is an excellent leader. I was confident I’d feel right at home.”
Assembling a good recruiting class is of paramount importance in any college sport, but as the cliché goes, games aren’t won on paper. Players have to execute, and these seniors have had no shortage of impressive showings in recent years. So far this season, the team is 5-0, highlighted by an epic 19-18 defeat of perennial powerhouse Penn State. Individually, the Sun Devil seniors boast a top 5 ranking in the 165-lb class from Shields, as well as the No. 1 overall pound for pound ranking for Zahid Valencia, who is always the main event in a show filled with exceptional talent. To nobody’s surprise, Valencia was a high-profile recruit, hailing from St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California. Unlike his teammates, ASU seemed to be in his backyard compared to the rest of the wrestling world.
“I was impressed by [Coach Jones’s] plan,” Valencia said. “Not just for the team, but also for my brother and me. Whenever he came to visit, he would talk about aspirations for the program, and how he planned on personally developing me and my teammates to become the best in the world. With his Olympic coaching background, we knew he was a great coach. But he opened my eyes with his ambition, and I wanted to bring something to the West Coast that could become a powerhouse.”
In sports and in life, belief and trust often come hand in hand. Zeke Jones and the ASU Wrestling class of 2020 perfectly exemplify what it means for a program to be founded on these all important traits. Without Jones, the players’ leap of faith never happens, without the players, the program doesn’t rise to the prominence it holds today. The foundation of these championship values has already paid dividends, but this team, led by the famous first believers, is looking to cap off an amazing run with a legendary finish.
“These guys have poured so much into this program, and have been such great leaders,” Jones said. “To send them off as winners of the team title would be perfect.”
