Anthony James Ashnault (born June 25, 1995) is an American

freestyle wrestler Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling. It is one of two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games, along with Greco-Roman wrestling, Greco-Roman. scholastic wrestling, High school wrestling and men's collegiate wrestling in the U ...

, graduated folkstyle wrestler, and assistant wrestling coach at Princeton University. In freestyle, he is a two-time Pan American Champion, having won the titles in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

and

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

. In folkstyle, he is an NCAA Division I Champion, four-time

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n and three-time Big Ten Champion. He was also a four-time undefeated NJSIAA title holder as a high schooler.

Folkstyle career

High school

Ashnault was born in

Paramus, New Jersey Paramus ( Waggoner, Walter H, ''The New York Times'', February 16, 1966. Accessed October 16, 2018. "Paramus – pronounced puh-RAHM-us, with the accent on the second syllable – may have taken its name from 'perremus' or 'perymus,' Indian for ...

and attended South Plainfield High School. He remained undefeated all four years of varsity with a record of 170 wins and no losses and went on to win four NJSIAA state titles at four different weight classes (103, 112, 126 & 138).

University

After graduating, Ashnault committed to wrestle as a Scarlet Knight at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

, where he competed at 141-pounds all years but his senior year, competing at 149 instead. As a redshirt athlete, he compiled a record of 15-3 while wrestling unattached in open tournaments. As a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

, he finished the season with 29 wins and 8 losses. Post-season, he placed fifth at the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

Championships, becoming the highest-placing Scarlet Knight at his first tournament. At the 15' NCAA's, he placed eight, earning

n honors. As a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

, he compiled a 33–5 record through season. Brought Rutgers their first individual Big Ten title ever. He placed fourth at the 16' NCAA's to become the first two-time

n in the history of the program. In his junior season, he posted a record of 30–6, became a three-time

n with a sixth-place finish at the 17' NCAA Championships and won his second straight Big Ten championship. Ashnault was initially unable to compete as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

and missed the whole season due to an injury. The

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

granted Ashnault a sixth year of eligibility for the 2018–19 season. He compiled an undefeated 32–0 record through the season, in which he competed at 149-pounds unlike his previous seasons. He won his third-consecutive Big Ten Championship. Also, he won the prestigious 19' NCAA Championship, becoming the second Scarlet Knight to do so after his teammate Nick Suriano, who won the individual title in his weight class earlier in the tournament. Ashnault graduated that year with a record of 139–22.

Freestyle career

Previous to competing as a senior, Ashnault had already competed multiple times in

freestyle wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling. It is one of two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games, along with Greco-Roman wrestling, Greco-Roman. scholastic wrestling, High school wrestling and men's collegiate wrestling in the U ...

as a junior in competitions such as the FILA (UWW) Nationals and World Trials.

2014

Ashnault won the University Nationals at 65 kilograms, and was scheduled to compete at a best-of-three qualifier for the World University Championship against Jordan Oliver, but Oliver missed weight and was pulled out of the event. This earned Ashnault the spot. He placed tenth at the world-level tournament.

2019

Ashnault competed at the Pan American Championships on April 18. He defeated every opponent he faced in the bracket at 70 kilograms, winning the championship. Ashnault went on to compete at an exhibition bout at the annual Beat The Streets against 2017 World Championship runner-up James Green. He lost the contest by points (4-8). Ashnault competed at the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament in an attempt to qualify for the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

. He won his first two bouts to reach the finals, in which he faced James Green in a rematch. When Green was rolling Ashnault's legs to get back exposure points, Ashnault suffered a knee injury which led him to a 0-10

technical fall In amateur wrestling, a technical fall, or technical superiority, is a victory condition satisfied by outscoring one's opponent by a specified number of points. It is a mercy rule. It is informally abbreviated to "tech" as both a noun and verb. Hi ...

loss and was forced to medical forfeit the second bout, awarding Green the next victory he needed to win the best-of-three.

2020

After recovering from the injury, the defending champion competed at the Pan American Championships in his first competition of the year. Last year's results were repeated as Ashnault defeated every opponent he faced to become a two-time Pan American Champion. This outcome qualified him for the US Olympic Trials. Ashnault was scheduled to compete at the 2020 US Olympic Trials on April, at

State College, Pennsylvania State College is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough and Home rule municipality (Pennsylvania), home rule municipality in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a college town, home to the University Park, Pennsylvania, University Park ...

, however, the event was postponed until 2021 due to the

coronavirus outbreak The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, along with the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

. Ashnault announced that he would attempt to make the team at 65 kilograms, and will do so in 2021. After the Olympic Trials were postponed for next year, Ashnault had been slated to compete against Luke Pletcher on July 25 at FloWrestling: Dake vs. Chamizo. However, he was forced to pull out of the event on July 6 due to injury. Ashnault was scheduled to wrestle Austin O'Connor at the THWC Open I, on December 4, but was unable to compete due to conflicts with FloWrestling. Instead, he came back at the Flo Eight-Man Challenge: 150 pounds, on December 18. After a close criteria win over '20 US National finalist Evan Henderson, Ashnault was soundly defeated by three-time

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

medalist

Bajrang Punia Bajrang Punia (born 26 February 1994) is an Indian politician and a freestyle wrestler. He is a member of the Indian National Congress serving as the ''Working President of the All India Kisan Congress''. Punia joined Congress party along wit ...

and '20 Cerro Pelado International champion Alec Pantaleo.

2021

To start off the year, Ashnault wrestled the 2020 Pan American champion (65 kg)

Yianni Diakomihalis John Michael "Yianni" Diakomihalis (born April 11, 1999) is an American freestyle and folkstyle wrestler who competes at 70 kilograms. A two-time US National champion in freestyle, he formerly competed at 65 kilograms, where he was the 2022 ...

on January 8, at the SCRTC I. After getting scored on with two two-point takedowns and a step-out, Diakomihalis scored a five-point slam, driving Ashnault to a

. He then competed at the rescheduled US Olympic Trials in April 2, and after defeating Nahshon Garrett in the first round, he was defeated by top–seeded

Zain Retherford Zain Allen Retherford ( ; born May 21, 1995) is an American freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler who competes at 70 kilograms. In freestyle, he is a gold and silver medalist at the World Championships, as well as a Pan-American ...

and was eliminated by Evan Henderson. Ashnault has registered to come back at the 2021 US World Team Trials on September 10–12, intending to represent the country at the

2024

On May 23, 2024, it was announced that he will be a new assistant wrestling coach at Princeton University.

Major results

NCAA record

! colspan="8", NCAA Championships Matches , - ! Res. ! Record ! Opponent ! Score ! Date ! Event , - ! style=background:white colspan=6 , 2019 NCAA Championships at 149 lbs , - , Win , 15-8 , align=left, Micah Jordan , style="font-size:88%", 9-4 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5, March 20–22, 2019 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5,

2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships The 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships took place from March 21 to March 23 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the PPG Paints Arena. The tournament was the 89th NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, and featured seventy teams across that ...

, - , Win , 14-8 , align=left, Matthew Kolodzik , style="font-size:88%", 2-0 , - , Win , 13-8 , align=left, Jarrett Degen , style="font-size:88%", 10-3 , - , Win , 12-8 , align=left, Davion Jeffries , style="font-size:88%", 7-1 , - , Win , 11-8 , align=left, Malik Amine , style="font-size:88%", MD 10-2 , - ! style=background:white colspan=6 , 2017 NCAA Championships 6th at 141 lbs , - , Loss , 10-8 , align=left, Jaydin Eierman , style="font-size:88%", 2-4 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=6, March 15–17, 2017 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=6,

2017 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships In 2017, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, a U.S. college wrestling tournament, was held in St. Louis, Missouri. The winning team was Penn State, and Kyle Snyder won the individual heavyweight competition. Team results Cham ...

, - , Loss , 10-7 , align=left, Kevin Jack , style="font-size:88%", 1-3 , - , Loss , 10-6 , align=left,

Dean Heil Dean Heil is a former folkstyle wrestler from Brunswick, Ohio. Heil wrestled collegiately at Oklahoma State, where he was a three-time All-American and two-time NCAA champion. High school career At St. Edward High School in Lakewood, Ohio, he ...

, style="font-size:88%", 2-4 , - , Win , 10-5 , align=left, Matthew Kolodzik , style="font-size:88%", 6-2 , - , Win , 9-5 , align=left, Luke Pletcher , style="font-size:88%", 8-7 , - , Win , 8-5 , align=left, Mason Smith , style="font-size:88%", 8-3 , - ! style=background:white colspan=6 , 2016 NCAA Championships 4th at 141 lbs , - , Loss , 7-5 , align=left, Joey McKenna , style="font-size:88%", 6-7 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=6, March 16–18, 2016 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=6, 2016 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships , - , Win , 7-4 , align=left, Solomon Chishko , style="font-size:88%", MD 11-3 , - , Loss , 6-4 , align=left,

, style="font-size:88%", 3-8 , - , Win , 6-3 , align=left, Chris Mecate , style="font-size:88%", 5-4 , - , Win , 5-3 , align=left, Seth Gross , style="font-size:88%", MD 15-2 , - , Win , 4-3 , align=left, Jamel Hudson , style="font-size:88%", TF 16-0 , - ! style=background:white colspan=6 , 2015 NCAA Championships 8th at 141 lbs , - , Loss , 3-2 , align=left,

, style="font-size:88%", 4-9 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5, March 18–20, 2015 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5, 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships , - , Win , 3-1 , align=left, Randy Cruz , style="font-size:88%", 3-2 , - , Loss , 2-1 , align=left, Mitchell Port , style="font-size:88%", 4-9 , - , Win , 2–0 , align=left, Zachary Horan , style="font-size:88%", 6-3 , - , Win , 1-0 , align=left, Mike Longo , style="font-size:88%", 9-2

Stats

! Season ! Year ! School ! Rank ! Weigh Class ! Record ! Win ! Bonus , - , 2019 , Senior , rowspan=4,

, #1 (1st) , 149 , 32-0 , 100.00% , 59.38% , - , 2017 , Junior , #3 (6th) , rowspan=3, 141 , 30-6 , 83.33% , 52.78% , - , 2016 , Sophomore , #2 (4th) , 33-5 , 86.84% , 47.37% , - , 2015 , Freshman , #18 (8th) , 29-8 , 78.38% , 32.43% , - , colspan=5 bgcolor="LIGHTGREY", Career , bgcolor="LIGHTGREY", 124-19 , bgcolor="LIGHTGREY", 86.84% , bgcolor="LIGHTGREY", 47.99%

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashnault, Anthony Living people 1995 births American male sport wrestlers People from South Plainfield, New Jersey South Plainfield High School alumni Sportspeople from Middlesex County, New Jersey Pan American Wrestling Championships medalists Rutgers Scarlet Knights wrestlers Wrestlers from New Jersey 21st-century American sportsmen