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Valencia Earns Pac-12 Wrestling Scholar Athlete of the Year

by thesundevils.com
Mar 3, 2022

TEMPE -  Arizona State graduate student Anthony Valencia has been named the 2022 Pac-12 Wrestling Scholar-Athlete of the Year. This award is presented to each of the 24 sports that the Pac-12 sponsors and was established to honor student-athletes that have stood out in not only the classroom but in their sport as well. Valencia earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Studies in 2021, and is currently on track to receive his master's degree in liberal studies.
 

 
A top-10 national wrestler, Valencia has proven to be one of the best wrestlers not only at Arizona State, but also in the country. He has added 14 wins thus far which has brought his career record to 114-30. He started the year on a 13-match winning streak. One of his most notable wins was on the road against Pittsburg against 13th-ranked All-American Jake Wentzel, where Valencia earned a 6-3 decision. Valencia qualified for the Mexico Senior National Team this year too. He flew through the qualifying tournaments over the winter and officially made the team on January 29th. He made it back to Tempe the following day to earn a 10-4 decision over Mason Reinche of Oregon State.
 
Off the mat, Valencia has proven to be one of the most outspoken leaders on the team. His hard work in the classroom has allowed him to maintain a 4.0 GPA throughout his graduate program. In 2020, Valencia earned the First Team All-American award, and he was awarded the Pac-12 Outstanding Wrestler Award in 2021. Valencia holds four Pac-12 titles, three at 165 and one at 174, and he's the No. 3 seed at 165 in this year's Pac-12 Championships. Valencia is a two-time All-American too.
 

 
The Pac-12 Wrestling Scholar-Athlete of the Year award was established during the 2007-08 academic year. Every year a scholar-athlete will be named in each of the Pac-12's 24 sports. This award is given out to seniors who are on track to receive a degree while having a cumulative grade-point average of a 3.0 or higher. The student-athlete must have participated in at least 50% of the contests in each sport and have been at their institution for at least a year. Each Pac-12 institution can nominate their student-athletes but the Pac-12 staff will make the final decision.

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