Zahid Valencia

Zahid Valencia (born May 11, 1997) is an American freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler who competes at 86 kilograms. In freestyle, he was the 2025 World Champion, upgrading his podium finish from a 2023 World Championship bronze medal at 92 kilograms.

Folkstyle career

High school Zahid attended St. John Bosco High School along with his brother Anthony. A three-time CIF state champion, Valencia won four Walsh Jesuit Ironman titles and placed third in the state as a sophomore. His setback at the state tournament was the only one in his high school career, compiling 158 wins with 100 pins and twelve technical falls. When he graduated, Valencia received the Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award, was named the 2015 Junior Hodge Trophy winner, and was ranked as one of the top five recruits in the nation.

In June 2014, Zahid and his brother Anthony, announced that they had committed to wrestle for the Arizona State Sun Devils in the NCAA Division I level.

Arizona State University 2015–2016 Wearing a redshirt during his first college season, Valencia went 8–2 combined after two tournaments, with one loss handed by graduated two-time Dan Hodge Trophy winner David Taylor from Penn State, and the other one by returning All-American Hayden Zillmer, placing seventh at the Midland Championships. He also claimed the Edinboro Open title.

2016–2017 Valencia had one of the most dominant freshman campaigns in the history of ASU. During regular season, he racked up titles from the Midlands Championships, the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite, the Journeyman Collegiate Classic and the Daktronics Open, went 14–0 in dual meets and racked up an overall undefeated record of 31–0. At the Pac-12 Championships, he defeated two opponents, including the fastest pin of the tournament (16 seconds) and was named the Outstanding Wrestler.

Entering NCAA's as an undefeated top-seed, Valencia won his first three matches (including one over eventual World and Olympic medalist Myles Amine) to make the semifinals, where he suffered his only loss of the season to Mark Hall from Penn State. He then went on to place third and claim All-American honors. Valencia was named the Pac-12 Wrestler and Freshman of the Year (first ever to obtain both honors), and the Sun Devil Most Outstanding Wrestler.

2017–2018 As a sophomore, Valencia claimed titles from the Cliff Keen Invitational (named OW) and the Midlands Championships, and compiled a 25–0 record during the regular season. In the postseason, he claimed his second straight Pac-12 title, and entered the NCAA's as the top seed for the second year straight.

At the NCAA championships, Valencia scored two pins and a major decision to reach the semifinals, where he defeated returning All-American Myles Amine on points to make the finals. After the season, Valencia was named the Pac-12 Wrestler of the Year, marking the first time a wrestler had earned back-to-back honors since Eric Larkin (2001–2003).

2018–2019 During his junior year, Valencia claimed titles in the Bison Open, the Cougar Clash and a third-consecutive Midlands title. This season marked the first and second times he had been defeated during the regular season, losing to Mark Hall and Daniel Lewis from Missouri, posting a 13–2 record in duals and 24–2 overall. At the Pac-12 Championships, Valencia scored two technical falls to claim his third straight title and be named the OW.

At the NCAA championships, Valencia, the third-seed, made his way to his second finals match with a pin and three major decisions, also avenging his regular-season loss to Daniel Lewis. In the first-place match, he once again faced Mark Hall, whom he edged by a point and denied the title for a second time, claiming a second NCAA title himself and avenging his other loss from the regular season. After the season, Valencia was named the Pac-12 Wrestler of the Year for the third time.

2019–2020 As a senior, Valencia moved up from 174 to 184 pounds, claimed titles from the Journeyman Collegiate Classic and the Cliff Keen Invitational, and had posted an undefeated 12–0 record in dual meets (20–0 overall). On February, Valencia tested positive for a recreational substance in a doping test from the Matteo Pellicone, a freestyle tournament where he had competed in January 2020, and was subsequently suspended by the ASU wrestling team, which cut short his season and his collegiate career.

Freestyle career

Age-group As a junior, Valencia was a three-time US World Team Member and national champion, and placed tenth, seventh, and second respectively at the World Championships. He was a two-time Fargo national champion at the cadet level.

Senior level

2015–2016 Valencia made his senior-level debut at the Grand Prix of Spain on July 11, 2015, where he placed second after victories over international opponents. He came back later at the Bill Farrell Memorial International, but was unable to place, going out with three victories and two losses. To close off 2015, Valencia went 2–2 at the US Senior Nationals. In January 2016, Valencia went 0–2 at the Dave Schultz Memorial International.

2018–2020 Valencia came back to the freestyle scene in big fashion after his '18 NCAA championship run at the US World Team Trials of May 2018. In the WTT Challenge tournament, he opened up with a 10–0 technical fall over two-time ACC champion Josh Asper, and shook three-time NCAA Division I champion Alex Dieringer twice, downing him 7–0 and 5–1. At Final X, he took on the eventual '18 World Champion and four–time NCAA champion Kyle Dake, who defeated Valencia 0–4 and 3–4.

After one year of inactivity in freestyle, Valencia competed at the US World Team Trials Challenge in May 2019. In the first round, he earned a technical superiority over Geno Morelli, and a 5–0 victory over his collegiate rival Mark Hall in the semifinals. In the best-of-three, he once again faced Alex Dieringer, but was dominantly defeated twice.

In December 2019, Valencia moved up from 79 kilos to 86 kilos and claimed his first US National title at the Senior Nationals of Fort Worth, Texas. In this tournament, he claimed notable wins over Nate Jackson, Aaron Brooks, and Myles Martin.

He came back a month later at the 2020 Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series of January, in Italy. He racked up wins over '18 World Championship runner-up Fatih Erdin and avenged his losses to Alex Dieringer to claim the title. However, it was announced on February that Valencia had been disqualified due to a failed drug test, where he tested positive to a banned, recreational substance. This also caused his suspension from the ASU wrestling team.

Valencia was scheduled to wrestle at the '20 US Olympic Team Trials on April 4–5 at State College, Pennsylvania. However, the event was postponed along with the 2020 Summer Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both competitions were later scheduled to take place in 2021.

Valencia headlined FloWrestling: Burroughs vs. Valencia on November 14, 2020, against '12 Olympic Gold medalist and four-time World Champion (at 74 kg) Jordan Burroughs, at a catchweight of 185 pounds. At the weigh-ins, Burroughs weighed 178.2 pounds, while Valencia marked 184.1 pounds on the scale. After a perfect 4–0 first period lead, Valencia was bombed with four takedowns while only earning one step-out, which was enough for the smaller athlete to claim the victory.

2021 To start off the year, Valencia competed at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix of France on January 16. First, he drove the accomplished Russian Magomed Ramazanov to a back-and-forth match, which he ended up losing seven points to eight. In the consolation bracket, he claimed three straight victories to claim bronze, with a notable technical fall over '12 Olympic bronze medalist and two-time European Champion Dato Marsagishvili in the last match.

Valencia then wrestled at the prestigious UWW Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series on March 7. After two technical falls, one of which was over '18 World Championship runner-up Fatih Erdin, Valencia proved his improved skills against long-time rival and multiple–time age–group World Champion Mark Hall, earning a flawless technical fall to claim the gold medal.

Valencia competed at the rescheduled US Olympic Team Trials on April 2–3 as the second seed, in an attempt to represent the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics. After defeating reigning NCAA champion Aaron Brooks, he was downed by 2019 U23 World Champion Bo Nickal, before coming back to beat Nate Jackson and Pat Downey.

Valencia came back at the prestigious Poland Open on June 8, where he racked up notable and dominant wins over '19 World Championship silver medalist from India Deepak Punia, '20 European Championship silver medalist from San Marino Myles Amine and '21 European Championship silver medalist from Georgia Sandro Aminashvili en route to the gold medal.

Freestyle record

Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location

Loss 105–30

Newark, New Jersey Loss 105–29

Win 105–28

Win 104-28

Coralville, Iowa Win 103-28

Win 102-28

Win 101-28

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Win 100-28

Tempe, Arizona

Win 99-28

Zagreb, Croatia Loss 98-28

Win 98-27

Win 97-27

Sunrise, Florida Loss 96-27

Fishers, Indiana Win 96-26

Durant, Oklahoma

Win 95–26

Zagreb, Croatia Win 94–26

Win 93–26

Win 92–26

Win 91–26

Win 90–26

Newark, New Jersey Win 89–26

Win 88–26

Monterrey, Mexico Win 87–26

Win 86–26

Win 85–26

Las Vegas, Nevada Win 84–26

Win 83–26

Win 82–26

Win 81–26

Win 80–26

Coralville, Iowa

Win 79–26

Zagreb, Croatia Win 78–26

Win 77–26

Win 76–26

Win 75–26

Sofia, Bulgaria Win 74–26

Win 73–26

Win 72–26

Loss 71–26

Loss 71–25

Loss

State College, Pennsylvania Loss 71–24

Win 71–23

Loss 70–23

Zagreb, Croatia

Win 70–22

Belgrade, Serbia Win 69–22

Loss 68–22

Win 68–21

Win 67–21

Budapest, Hungary Win 66–21

Win 65–21

Win 64–21

Loss 63–21

Win 63–20

Newark, New Jersey Win 62–20

Win 61–20

Colorado Springs, Colorado Win 60–20

Win 59–20

Loss 58–20

Las Vegas, Nevada Win 58–19

Win 57–19

Win 56–19

Win 55–19

Loss 54–19

Alexandria, Egypt Win 54–18

Win 53–18

Win 52–18

Win 51–18

Zagreb, Croatia Loss 50–18

Win 50–17

Win 49–17

Win 48–17

Win 47–17

Win 46–17

Loss 45–17

Loss 45–16

Win 45–15

Coralville, Iowa Win 44–15

Win 43–15

Win 42–15

Win 41–15

Win 40–15

Win 39–15

Win 38–15

Arlington, Texas

Win 37–15

Krasnoyarsk, Russia Loss 36–15

Win 36–14

Win 35–14

Win 34–14

Warsaw, Poland Win 33–14

Win

Win 32–14

Win 31–14

Win 30–14

Loss 29–14

Win 29–13

Win 28–13

Rome, Italy Win 27–13

Win 26–13

Win 25–13

Nice, France Win 24–13

Win 23–13

Loss 22–13

Loss 22–12

Austin, Texas

Win 22–11

Rome, Italy Win 21–11

Win 20–11

Win 19–11

Fort Worth, Texas Win 18–11

Win 17–11

Win 16–11

Win 15–11

Loss 14–11

Raleigh, North Dakota Loss 14–10

Win 14–9

Win 13–9

Loss 12–9

State College, Pennsylvania Loss 12–8

Win 12–7

Rochester, Minnesota Win 11–7

Win 10–7

Loss 9–7

Colorado Springs, Colorado Loss 9–6

Loss 9–5

Las Vegas, Nevada Win 9–4

Win 8–4

Loss 7–4

Loss 7–3

New York City, New York Win 7–2

Win 6–2

Loss 5–2

Win 5–1

Loss 4–1

Madrid, Spain Win 4–0

Win 3–0

Win 2–0

Win 1–0

NCAA record

Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event

Win 15-1

Win 14–1

Win 13–1

Win 12–1

Win 11–1

Win 10–1

Win 9–1

Win 8–1

Win 7–1

Win 6–1

Win 5–1

Win 4-1

Loss 3-1

Win 3-0

Win 2–0

Win 1–0

Stats Season Year School Rank Weigh Class Record Win Bonus 2020 Senior

1 (DNQ) 184 20-0 100.00% 85.00% 2019 Junior 2 (1st)

31-2 93.94% 78.79% 2018 Sophomore 1 (1st) 32-0 100.00% 78.13% 2017 Freshman 1 (3rd) 38-1 97.44% 71.79%