Tempe, Arizona - After the emotion of winning the NCAA championship had subsided, after he had ascended and then descended the awards podium, after the champions' photos had been taken, and after the post-tournament reception had died down well after midnight at The Metropolitan at the 9 hotel in Cleveland, Zahid Valencia went back to his room, laid on his bed and exhaled.
"I just emptied my mind," the Sun Devils sophomore said. "I let it all soak in.
"My emotions were all over the place after I won. It was just amazing to finally be able to win a national championship. It's a dream I've had in my mind since I was a little kid so to be able to fulfill it was awesome."
In case you somehow missed it, Valencia captured the NCAA wrestling title at 174 pounds at Quicken Loans Arena on Saturday, capping an undefeated season (32-0) and a remarkable two-year run with just one loss and two All-American honors in his hip pocket.
Valencia avenged the only loss of his collegiate career when he defeated Penn State's Mark Hall, 8-2 in the final. Hall upset Valencia in the national semifinals last season. That loss that has fueled him ever since, but it was Valencia's semifinal win over Michigan's Myles Amine that coach Zeke Jones said focused him for the grudge match.
"His first three matches were good but even in the semis he really reached -- he over-wrestled to get these guys to open up," Jones said. "He made a couple mistakes and got scored on and he was down 4-1 in the first period.
"I don't know if he's been down 4-1 in two years of college wrestling. It just so happened that it came in the national semifinals, the round where he lost last year."
Despite that dramatic backstory, Valencia never panicked.
"For me it was just about staying calm," he said. "I've been in this position before in my life, whether it was down a point, down two points or whatever. I just had to find a way to win.
"I was confident because I knew there was still a lot of wrestling left and I could score a couple takedowns before the match ended to win."
Valencia scored six of the match's final seven points to post a 7-5 win, setting up one of the best storylines of the tournament: the two-time junior world champion Hall against the guy many expected to take his NCAA crown.
"I was completely ready since weigh-ins at 10 AM," Valencia said. "I was so stoked for that one match, knowing that as long as I moved my feet and got my fakes going and got my shots going that I would have a really good chance to win.
"My game plan was to be offensive and get my shots, be aggressive."
With his parents watching just behind the mat, and his brother and teammate Anthony also on hand, Valencia and Hall engaged in an opening, scoreless scramble that Jones described as "frickin' amazing wrestling." Valencia scored twice in the first period and he just kept scoring in a convincing win.
"Right on the opening whistle, I knew he was ready," Jones said. "He loves to shoot on the whistle. It's his way to get going. He started snapping Mark's head to the ground, just snapping it and snapping it and when his hands are busy it tells me his feet are busy. It tells me he is on his game."
Valencia is the 11th national champion in Arizona State history and the first since Anthony Robles and Bubba Jenkins in 2011. His win, coupled by seventh-place finishes from Josh Shields (157) and Jason Tsirtsis (149) pushed the Sun Devils to 10th place, their first top-10 finish since 2010-11.
"We left some points off the board," Jones said. "We had one or two difficult sessions, but I thought we competed really well."
Valencia plans to take seven to 10 days off before he jumps right back on the mat to start training in freestyle for the U.S. Open in April. There will be no slowing down. One of the top handful of athletes at Arizona State is just getting started.
"I've always dreamed of being an NCAA and then an Olympic and World champ," Valencia said. "I think those are good goals to have in mind so you can work hard to reach them.
"I've got one. Now I want two more."