SUN DEVIL WRESTLING 2018-19 MEDIA GUIDE Sun Devil Wrestling 2 Roster/Schedule Sun Devil Wrestling 2018-19 Roster 2018-19 Schedule Name Wt Yr Hometown Date Opponent Location Time Noor Almusahwi 157 Sr. Modesto, CA Nov. 3 M&G Tempe, AZ TBA Cade Belshay 197 So. Clovis, CA Nov. 11 SDSU Sioux Falls, SD TBD Keavon Buckley 197 RSr. Bozeman, MT Nov. 17 UNC Tempe, AZ TBD Austin Clayton 184 RFr. Middletown, DE Nov. 18 Ohio State Tempe, AZ TBD Brandon Courtney 125 RFr. Goodyear, AZ Dec. 2 SIUE Tournament Edwardsville, IL All Day Cory Crooks 141 RSo. Anthem, AZ Dec. 14 Penn State State College, PA TBD Brady Daniel 197 RFr. Olney, MD Dec. 29 Midlands Chicago, IL All Day Navonte Demison 149 RFr. Bakersfield, CA Dec. 30 Midlands Chicago, IL All Day Andy Gandara 141 RJr. Somerton, AZ Jan. 4-6 Michigan Tempe, AZ TBD Tanner Hall 285 Sr. Meridian, ID Austyn Harris 285 RSr. Broomfield, CO Jan. 11 Virginia Duals Hampton, VA TBD Hunter Hohman 133 Fr. Lapeer, MI Jan. 12 Virginia Duals Hampton, VA TBD Austin Hosegood 125 RFr. Winter Haven, FL Jan. 19 Oregon State* Corvallis, OR TBD Chance Ikei 133 RSo. Scottsdale, AZ Jan. 25 Lock Haven Red Lion, PA TBD Josiah Kline 125 So. Tucson, AZ Jan. 26 Lehigh Bethlehem, PA TBD Josh Kramer 125 RJr. Buckeye, AZ Feb. 2 Stanford* Stanford, CA TBD Josh Maruca 149 RJr. Murrysville, PA Feb. 8 Missouri Tempe, AZ TBD Ryan Millhof 125 RSr. Suwanee, GA Feb. 16 Bakersfield* Tempe, AZ TBD Kordell Norfleet 184 So. Chicago, IL Feb. 22 Cal Poly* Tempe, AZ TBD Christian Pagdilao 149 Gr. Redlands, CA Mar. 9 Pac-12’s Tempe, AZ TBD Jacen Petersen 165 RSr. Charlo, MT Mar. 22 NCAA’s Pittsburgh, PA All Day William Pickren 125 RFr. Panama City Beach, FL Mar. 23 NCAA’s Pittsburgh, PA All Day Chad Porter 197 RFr. Phoenix, AZ Mar. 24 NCAA’s Pittsburgh, PA All Day Ted Rico 133 RJr. Queen Creek, AZ Josh Shields 157 RJr. Murrysville, PA *Pac-12 Conference match Conner Small 184 RJr. Issaquah, WA Jacori Teemer 149 Fr. Long Beach, NY Dillon Ulrey 165 Jr. Central Point, OR Anthony Valencia 165 RJr. Bellflower, CA Zahid Valencia 184 RJr. Bellflower, CA Nikko Villarreal 141 RFr. Gilroy, CA Nick Williams 141 So. Lisbon, IA 3 Mission and Values Sun Devil Wrestling Arizona State Wrestling Vision To create and develop a world class wrestling program in a university environment by developing all members of the program into outstanding leaders in our community while helping them obtain advanced degrees in higher education and positioning them to win NCAA, world, and Olympic gold medals. ASU Wrestling Mission and Goals •Build a program where there is no ceiling in the program. You can become as good as you want to become. •Deliver the highest possible service to our student-athletes and be a productive member of our university and our athletic department. The New American Wrestling Program - Arizona State •1 | Leverage our Place | To build an overall program of success. •2 | Transform the Wrestling Model | From the youth level to the Olympic podium, ASU Wrestling will assist wrestlers through the pipeline from sport introduction to the Olympic gold medal. •3 | Value Wrestling Creativity | ASU Wrestling uses its world class knowledge and encourages strategic wrestling innovation. •4 | Enable Student Success | ASU Wrestling is committed to the success of the unique student-athlete. •5 | Build a bridge amongst Olympic Disciplines | ASU Wrestling partners with the National Team to develop an overall strategic program. •6 | Be Socially Embedded | ASU Wrestling connects with wrestling communities through social media to build its fan base and support. •7 | Engage Locally and Globally | ASU Wrestling understands the global wrestling model and use it as a catalyst to excellence. In addition, we service our wrestling community by engaging the Tempe, Phoenix, and Arizona fan base. •8 | Character and Ethical Responsibility | ASU Wrestling encourages strong decision making skills and builds the program around solid character. •9 | Leaders of our Communities | ASU Wrestling is building leaders for the future. 4 Head Coach Zeke Jones Sun Devil Wrestling 5 Zeke Jones Bio Sun Devil Wrestling Sun Devil wrestling head coach Zeke Jones enters his fifth season at the helm of the program and in just three and a half years has completely changed the face of ASU wrestling. Arizona State Vice President for University Athletics and Athletics Director Ray Anderson signed Jones to a contract that will keep him at ASU until 2021. A former Sun Devil, Jones was a three-time All-American and national runner-up as a collegiate wrestler, as well as a member of the 1988 ASU national championship team. An Olympic silver medalist himself, Jones served as head coach of the United States Freestyle Wrestling Team, coaching U.S. Olympians in the 1996, 2000, 2004, 2012, and 2016 Olympic games. Jones led his alma mater to its 18th Pac-10/12 championship (20th conference title including two Western Athletic Conference titles) in 2018 behind six individual champions in Ali Naser (133), Jason Tsirtsis (149), Josh Shields (157), Anthony Valencia (165), Zahid Valencia (174), and Kordell Norfleet (184). The Sun Devils also earned their highest finish (10th) at NCAA’s since 2011 in 2017-18. He has won four World Cup Gold medals and was selected The World’s Most Technical Wrestler, one of only three Americans ever to receive the award, by United World Wrestling, the international governing body for the sport of wrestling. Jones was Anderson’s first coaching hire, starting a long line of highly touted coaching hires at Arizona State that includes the likes of Bob Bowman (men’s and women’s swimming), Bobby Hurley (men’s bas- ketball), and Cliff English (women’s triathlon). “It is important we retain our high-caliber coaching hires and, without a doubt, Coach Jones has made a huge impact in his three years at Arizona State,” says Anderson. Already building an impressive resume at the ASU helm, Jones’ first full recruiting class, including heavy- weight Tanner Hall and brothers Zahid and Anthony Valencia, was tabbed the No. 1 recruiting class by D1CollegeWrestling.Net, FloWrestling, Intermat, and WIN Magazine. He continues to attract the nation’s top student-athletes, adding for 2018-19 the likes of Jacori Teemer, five-time New York state champion and Mason Smith, two-time NCAA qualifier from Central Michigan. In just three and a half years, he has also signed five No. 1 recruits in their perspective weights and eight that were ranked in the top 10 pound for pound. In addition, the Sun Devils have added eight cadet and junior world team members since Jones arrived. Academics have also been a high priority with Jones at the helm as several members of the current roster are part of Barrett Honors College, one of the nation’s top honors colleges. 6 Coaching Staff Sun Devil Wrestling Lee Pritts - Assistant Coach •Named assistant coach on Sept. 4, 2012 •Served as USA Wrestling assistant coach at 2017 and 2018 Cadet World Championships •Considered one of top recruiters in the country •Previous coaching experience: NC State, Missouri, Old Dominion •Two-time team captain (118 lbs) at Eastern Michigan, made 3 appearances at NCAA championships, earned All-America honors (1996) Chris Pendleton - Assistant Coach •Named assistant coach on July 30, 2014 •Served as USAW assistant coach at Women’s Freestyle Pan-American Championships •Coached six conference champion teams •Coached 2017 Women’s Senior World Runner-ups •Two-time NCAA Champion, three-time All-Ameri- can (174 lbs) at Oklahoma State •Top-10 wrestler of 2000’s (Intermat) •Big-12 All Century Team •4-time NCAA Team Champion •3-time USA National Team member 7 Coaching Staff Sun Devil Wrestling Jamill Kelly - Volunteer Assistant Coach •Joined Sun Devil staff in May 2018 •2004 Olympic silver medalist in Athens, Greece •Two-time World Team member, four-time US National Team member •US Open Champion, two-time Pan American Games silver medalist •Competed for Oklahoma State (1997-2000) •Most recently coached at Stanford and NC State (L to R) Head coach Zeke Jones, athletic trainer Chris Marquez, Director of Operations Maddie Schossow, Assistant Coach Chris Pendleton, Vol. Assistant Coach Jamill Kelly, Assistant Coach Lee Pritts 8 Pac-12 Honors Sun Devil Wrestling The Sun Devils won back-to-back Pac-12 Championships in 2017 and 2018 behind 6 individual champions in 2018: Ali Naser, Jason Tsirtsis, Zahid Valencia, Anthony Valencia, Josh Shields, and Kordell Norfleet. In March, head coach Zeke Jones was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year while Zahid Valencia was named Wrestler of the Year and Kordell Norfleet was named Freshman of the Year. 9 2018 International Competition Sun Devil Wrestling Zahid Valencia competed in Final X in State College, Chad Porter represented the USA on the Greco-Ro- PA, a new set of competitions to decide who will rep- man Junior World Team while Brandon Courtney was a resent the United States on the Senior World Team. finalist for the Junior World Freestyle Team. Photo credit: Richard Immel 10 Barrett Honors Sun Devil Wrestling Sun Devil wrestling has a strong recent history of numerous team members in Barrett, the Honors College at ASU. Estab- lished in 1988, Barrett, the Honors College, is one of the top honors colleges in the na- tion. Barrett students have the “Best of Both Worlds” - attending a Research I, Pac-12 school while living with other similar minded students. ASU is among the top pro- ducers of U.S. Fulbright scholarship winners. 11 2017-18 Sun Devil Wrestling Season Stats All Matches in 2017-18 Season ‘Bonus Point’ Victories Career Numbers Sun Devil Wt.