(Photo: Travis David V Whittaker/WCSN)
At the start of the NCAA Wrestling season, ASU had high expectations to be a top threat during the regular season and come March at the NCAA’s. Battling through injuries, redshirts and falling short in numerous dual meets they have faded away from the national attention as a team, however, the Sun Devils still view themselves as a threat next month in Pittsburgh at the NCAA tournament.
Some of the few bright spots for the team this year have been the individual success for returning All-American 165-lb. No. 4 ranked Josh Shields and returning 174-lb. national champion No. 3 Zahid Valencia.
Since ASU is in the five school Pac-12 conference, they have to constantly travel across the country to face the best competition in the nation throughout the season.
Dual meets with Big-10 foes like Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan, who are all ranked in the top five, or teams like Missouri, Virginia and Lehigh University add to the already rigorous schedule that can pad seedable criteria for the NCAA’s of those who excel.
ASU wrestling coach Zeke Jones always talks about his team competing with a battle-tested mindset and has set up their schedule to compliment his wrestler’s success to set them up nicely in the postseason to correlate with that mindset.
“We wrestle the toughest schedule in the NCAA,” said Josh Shields. “There was never a week where I felt alright I have an easy kid this match.”
Attending tournaments like the Ken Craft Midlands championships allows ASU to test their skills against some of the stiffest competition at the midway point of the season.
“If you are going to be the best you have to wrestle the best,” said Jones. “You never want to wait until the end to do it.”
Each practice and match is a grind for a wrestler but for the both of them, they embrace it day in and day out.
“The biggest thing with Zahid and Josh Shields is their preparation doesn’t change no matter who they are wrestling,” said assistant coach Chris Pendleton. “So, it’s not an accident that they are having the success they have. They are probably two of our hardest workers on the team.”
Both wrestlers have faced all of the top-ranked guys in their weights during the course of the season, as they both have wrestled to a combined 46-5 record.
Entering the last month of the season, the matches both Shields and Valencia have won and lost shows that they still have time to work on the mistakes they made earlier to ensure when they face those opponents once again they can get their arm raised this time around.
“There’s always things that I need to work on,” said Valencia days prior to the Missouri dual. “Things I can get better on. That match at Penn State I look at as a blessing. It shows me a lot of stuff I have to work on and get ready for Nationals.”
After Valencia lost to Mark Hall in December, Jones noted that his focus has been much restored.
“His focus has wavered in some spots before the season,” said Jones. “Injury, just little things but he has really picked it up since that match. (At Penn State) he was probably firing at 70 percent. I think the only guy that can beat Zahid is Zahid. When he’s 100 percent no one can beat him.”
Historically in college Valencia has been dominant after a loss.
In 2017 at the NCAA’s after falling to Hall in the semi-finals he came back to take third. Winning by fall and by Maj. Dec. in the third-place bout, then riding into the following season to an undefeated National Championship performance. This year after he lost to Hall once again, he followed it up with a first-place finish at the Midlands winning every match by scoring bonus point victories.
“If you look at his body of work for his third year of college wrestling, he doesn’t make many mistakes,” said Jones.
Matching up with all of the top three ranked guys in his weight earlier in the season, Sheilds has been unable to prevail victorious against those top three ranked wrestlers in the nation.
Those wrestlers are No. 1 Vincenzo Joseph of Penn State, No. 2 Alex Marinelli of Iowa and No. 3 Evan Wick of Wisconsin.
For someone who loves the sport of wrestling as Shields does, he constantly studies what he can do to improve his skill and craft against the best to ensure he can be the best.
“I look at what I didn’t do well in those matches,” said Shields. “I look at how those people beat me, and I take from it. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If I lose to someone because they are doing something great I’m not going to say I’m not going to do that. I’m going to copy what the best guys in the world are doing.”
Shields has answered the door when facing opponents who come knocking that are ranked behind him, including a double-overtime (TB2) win against the then No. 4 Chance Marsteller of Lock Haven, No. 7 Logan Massa of Michigan, No. 12 Bryce Steiert of Northern Iowa in the third-place match at the Midlands and recently No. 13 Connor Flynn of Missouri.
“That match with Chance was a barn-burner the whole time,” said Shields. “That match kept me dead tired.”
“If transfer property was the way we were decided on how people would do, Josh would do well because he’s beating people who are in the mix beating those guys in the top group,” said Jones.
Jones noted that Shields’ ability as a wrestler has evolved over his time in Tempe.
“He’s a guy who has every year who just gets better and better and better,” said Jones.
Just like in practice, Shields views each match the same equally. Win or lose.
“I don’t let my identity be wrapped up by wins or losses,” said Shields. “If I win I don’t get too high so that I don’t overlook somebody. Whenever I lose I don’t get too low so that I believe I’m the scum of the barrel. Can’t get too high on the high’s and to low on the low’s.”
Moving into the last few duals of the season and ahead of the Pac-12 tournament, both Shields and Valencia will have a chance to pad their seeding a few more times ahead of the Pac-12 conference tournament before they get sent off to the NCAA’s next month in Pittsburgh.
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