Anthony Ashnault
Ashnault in 2019
Personal information
Full nameAnthony James Ashnault
NationalityAmerican
Born (1995-06-25) June 25, 1995
South Plainfield, New Jersey, U.S.
Height5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Weight70 kg (154 lb)
Sport
CountryUnited States
SportWrestling
Event(s)Freestyle and Folkstyle
ClubScarlet Knight WC
NJRTC
Coached byScott Goodale
Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
Representing the  United States
Pan American Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Buenos Aires70 kg
Gold medal – first place 2020 Ottawa70 kg
Collegiate Wrestling
Representing the Rutgers Scarlet Knights
NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Gold medal – first place2019 Pittsburgh149 lb
Big Ten Championships
Gold medal – first place2016 Iowa City141 lb
Gold medal – first place2017 Bloomington141 lb
Gold medal – first place2019 Minneapolis149 lb

Anthony James Ashnault (born June 25, 1995)[1] is an American freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler. In freestyle, he is a two-time Pan American Champion, having won the titles in 2019 and 2020.[2] In folkstyle, he is an NCAA Division I Champion, four-time All-American and three-time Big Ten Champion. He was also a four-time undefeated NJSIAA title holder as a high schooler.[3]

Folkstyle career

High school

Ashnault was born in Paramus, New Jersey 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).[4]

University

After graduating, Ashnault committed to wrestle as a Scarlet Knight at Rutgers University, where he competed at 141-pounds all years but his senior year, competing at 149 instead.[3][5] As a redshirt athlete, he compiled a record of 15-3 while wrestling unattached in open tournaments.

As a freshman, he finished the season with 29 wins and 8 losses. Post-season, he placed fifth at the Big Ten Championships, becoming the highest-placing Scarlet Knight at his first tournament.[6] At the 15' NCAA's, he placed eight, earning All-American honors.[7]

As a sophomore, he compiled a 33–5 record through season. Brought Rutgers their first individual Big Ten title ever.[8] He placed fourth at the 16' NCAA's to become the first two-time All-American in the history of the program.[9]

In his junior season, he posted a record of 30–6, became a three-time All-American with a sixth-place finish at the 17' NCAA Championships[10] and won his second straight Big Ten championship.[11] Ashnault was initially unable to compete as a senior and missed the whole season due to an injury.[12]

The NCAA granted Ashnault a sixth year of eligibility for the 2018–19 season.[12] 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[13] and also 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.[14]

Ashnault graduated that year with a record of 139–22.[15]

Freestyle career

Previous to competing as a senior, Ashnault had already competed multiple times in freestyle wrestling as a junior in competitions such as the FILA (UWW) Nationals and World Trials.[16]

2014

Ashnault won the University Nationals at 65 kilograms,[17] and was scheduled to compete at a best-of-three qualifier for the World University Championship against Jordan Oliver,[18] but Oliver missed weight and was pulled out of the event.[19] This earned Ashnault the spot.[20] He placed tenth at the world-level tournament.[21]

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.[22]

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).[23]

Ashnault competed at the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament in an attempt to qualify for the World Championships. 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 loss and was forced to medical forfeit the second bout, awarding Green the next victory he needed to win the best-of-three.[24][25]

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.[26]

Ashnault was scheduled to compete at the 2020 US Olympic Trials on April, at State College, Pennsylvania, however, the event was postponed until 2021 due to the coronavirus outbreak, along with the Olympics.[27] Ashnault announced that he would attempt to make the team at 65 kilograms, and will do so in 2021.[28] 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.[29] However, he was forced to pull out of the event on July 6 due to injury.[30]

Ashnault was scheduled to wrestle Austin O'Connor at the THWC Open I, on December 4,[31] but was unable to compete due to conflicts with FloWrestling.[32] Instead, he came back at the Flo Eight-Man Challenge: 150 pounds, on December 18.[33] After a close criteria win over '20 US National finalist Evan Henderson, Ashnault was soundly defeated by three-time World Championship medalist Bajrang Punia and '20 Cerro Pelado International champion Alec Pantaleo.[34]

2021

To start off the year, Ashnault wrestled the 2020 Pan American champion (65 kg) Yianni Diakomihalis on January 8, at the SCRTC I.[35] After getting scored on with two two-point takedowns and a step-out, Diakomihalis scored a five-point slam, driving Ashnault to a technical fall.[36] 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 and was eliminated by Evan Henderson.[37]

Ashnault has registered to come back at the 2021 US World Team Trials on September 10–12, intending to represent the country at the World Championships.[38]

Major results

Year Tournament Location Result Event
2019 Pan American Wrestling Championships Argentina Buenos Aires, Argentina 1st Freestyle 70 kg
2020 Pan American Wrestling Championships Canada Ottawa, Canada 1st Freestyle 70 kg

NCAA record

Stats

References

  1. ↑ Abbott, Gary (May 19, 2019). "Mens freestyle World Team Trials Challenge Tournament finalist bios". Team USA.
  2. ↑ Kratch, James (March 9, 2020). "Rutgers national champion Anthony Ashnault wins 2nd Pan-Am Championships title, qualifies for 2020 Olympic Trials". NJ.com. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  3. 1 2 "Anthony Ashnault - Wrestling". Rutgers University Athletics. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  4. ↑ Falk, Steven (April 6, 2018). ""Rutgers wrestling: Anthony Ashnault granted sixth year of eligibility"". Asbury Park Press. Retrieved March 19, 2020. Rutgers University redshirt senior Anthony Ashnault has been given a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA, it was announced today. The three-time All-American and former South Plainfield High School star will be eligible to wrestle for Rutgers in the 2018-19 season
  5. ↑ LLC, ACS. "Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) Profile". www.wrestlestat.com. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Big Ten Conference" (PDF). bigten.org. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  7. ↑ "2015 NCAA D1 Brackets" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on January 17, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  8. ↑ Logan, Scott (March 8, 2016). "Rutgers Wrestler Becomes First Big Ten Champion in Program History". New Brunswick Today. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  9. ↑ Badders, Bob. "Rutgers' Anthony Perrotti Becomes a Two-Time NCAA All-American". Shore Sports Network. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  10. ↑ Trentonian, John Bilinski For The. "Anthony Ashnault becomes Rutgers wrestling's first three-time All-American". The Trentonian. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  11. ↑ NJ.com, Ryan Dunleavy | NJ Advance Media for (March 6, 2017). "RU's Ashnault, 2x B1G champion, wants to 'set a legacy'". nj. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  12. 1 2 "Ashnault Granted Sixth Year of Eligibility for Wrestling". Rutgers University Athletics. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  13. ↑ NJ.com, James Kratch | NJ Advance Media for (March 10, 2019). "Rutgers' Anthony Ashnault wins historic 3rd title at Big Ten Championships, has one last hill to climb". nj. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  14. ↑ Cooper, Darren. "Anthony Ashnault finishes his Rutgers wrestling career with national title". North Jersey. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  15. ↑ Kosko, Nick (March 25, 2019). "Anthony Ashnault: A Career Retrospective". On the Banks. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Anthony Ashnault (South Plainfield, NJ) | Trackwrestling Profile". Trackwrestling. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  17. ↑ "2014 ASICS University Nat - FS". www.trackwrestling.com. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  18. ↑ Star-Ledger, Joe Kania/ For The (June 10, 2014). "Wrestling: Anthony Ashnault to wrestle-off Jordan Oliver for University World Team spot". nj. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  19. ↑ Express-Times, Ryan Holmes | The (June 22, 2014). "Jordan Oliver fails to make weight, will not contend for spot on U.S. Freestyle University World Team". lehighvalleylive. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  20. ↑ NJ.com, Ryan Dunleavy | NJ Advance Media for (November 15, 2016). "One match could steal show of RU, Princeton wrestling". nj. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  21. ↑ "Rutgers wrestler Anthony Ashnault competed for USA". Asbury Park Press. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  22. ↑ "Ashnault Captures Gold for Team USA at Pan Am Championships". Rutgers University Athletics. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  23. ↑ "Beat The Streets Results". USA Wrestling. May 6, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  24. ↑ "See the results for the 2019 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament wrestling event on FloWrestling.org". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  25. ↑ NJ.com, James Kratch | NJ Advance Media for (May 19, 2019). "Anthony Ashnault's world championships bid derailed by injury; NJRTC's Pat Downey, Tyler Graff advance to Final X". nj. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  26. ↑ NJ.com, James Kratch | NJ Advance Media for (March 9, 2020). "Rutgers national champion Anthony Ashnault wins 2nd Pan-Am Championships title, qualifies for 2020 Olympic Trials". nj. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  27. ↑ "Alumni Spotlight: Ashnault's Olympic Goal Continues Despite Postponement". Rutgers University Athletics. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  28. ↑ "#FreestyleFriday: Anthony Ashnault back from injury and ready to compete". Team USA. February 7, 2020. Archived from the original on March 12, 2020.
  29. ↑ "FloWrestling to host Dake-Chamizo; Taylor-Downey; Ashnault-Pletcher on July 25 in Austin". Team USA. June 19, 2020. Archived from the original on June 20, 2020.
  30. ↑ "Breaking: Due to Injury Anthony Ashnault is out of his match against Luke Pletcher on our July 25th card. We are currently looking for a replacement to compete against Luke Pletcher". Twitter. July 6, 2020. Archived from the original on July 6, 2020. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  31. ↑ "Tar Heel Wrestling Club on Twitter: BIG NEWS O'Connor vs Ashnault. December 4th". Twitter. Archived from the original on November 13, 2020. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  32. ↑ "Tar Heel Wrestling Club on Twitter: "Due to a conflict with FloWrestling, Anthony Ashnault will not be able to compete on our December 4 card."". Twitter. November 16, 2020. Archived from the original on November 16, 2020.
  33. ↑ Duckworth, Seth (October 4, 2020). "Jordan Oliver to Wrestle in $25,000 Tournament on FloWrestling". Pistols Firing. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  34. ↑ "Bajrang tops Green to win Flo 8-Man Challenge at 150 pounds". InterMat. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  35. ↑ "Spartan Combat RTC Throwing Down On Jan 8!". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  36. ↑ "Dake, Diakomihalis, Dean, Arujau win Main Card bouts on Spartan Combat Wrestling I". Team USA. January 8, 2021. Archived from the original on January 11, 2021.
  37. ↑ "Ashnault Wraps Up Action at 2021 U.S. Olympic Team Trials". Rutgers University Athletics. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  38. ↑ "Who's Registered For World Team Trials So Far? - FloWrestling". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
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