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to win and that’s what we want. We want to win national titles. Even after that, Zeke Jones is a great coach in freestyle and I feel that he can take us to be World and Olympic champions,” Zahid said.
Coach Jones sees great potential in the Valencia brothers as he attempts to bring Arizona State back to national prominence. “They have excelled their entire lives both on the wrestling mat and in the classroom. They are good kids with good charac- ter and a good family network. Those are all the things that make programs successful. So I think that is why we immediate- ly attracted to one another,” Jones said. With the Valencia brothers, Arizona State boasts the top ranked recruiting class of 2015. “It’s going to be fun knowing that Arizona State is coming back. We want to build that legacy again and make some histo- ry there,” Zahid said. This January, the Valencias made a trip to Colorado Springs to train with the top Senior-level freestyle wrestlers in the coun- try.
“I’m extremely pleased that they are buying into our National
Team system,” Slay said. “They are willing to come out here to the Olympic Training Center at the beginning of January and work on freestyle skills, which affirms the point I made, they want to be state champs, but they want to be the best wrestlers in the World.”
Both brothers are aiming to make the Junior World Team this summer before stepping on campus in Tempe, Ariz. “I look at the higher goals,” Anthony said. “I believe if you are trying to work for something better than just D1 or NCAA titles it’s going to be a little easier to become that. So I just work for what I want most, to be the best wrestler in the World.”
Zahid Valencia will join his brother next season at Arizona State University. John Sachs photo.
31 USA Wrestler
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