Anthony Ashnault might be the most recognizable name in New Jersey wrestling history – with the possible exceptions of gold medalists Jordan Burroughs and Bruce Baumgartner.
Ashnault was the first undefeated four-time state champion in New Jersey history, accomplishing the feat at traditional power South Plainfield. He stayed in state and became the greatest Rutgers wrestler of all-time, winning 123 matches, three Big 10 titles and becoming an All-American four times - all Scarlet Knight records.
In March 2019, he and teammate Nick Suriano won the program’s first-ever NCAA championships.
Ashnault became a Rutgers assistant for a season while training with the Scarlet Knight Wrestling Club before opting to leave his coaching role to focus on his training, moving to the New York City Wrestling Club. Even though he left the state for the first time, he still lived in Hoboken.
When Ashnault’s competitive career -which included two Pan-Am titles - ended at the Last Chance Qualifier just short of qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Trials in April, he planned his next steps. He knew one thing - wherever he landed, whatever career he chose, it would be in New Jersey.
As it turned out, Princeton coach Joe Dubuque was looking to re-build his coaching staff heading into his second season. And he identified Ashnault as a young coach that would be an ideal fit.
“(Dubuque) reached out about a year ago and at the time I was focused on making the Olympic team and really had no idea what I wanted to do after,” said Ashnault. “I wasn’t really sure I would get back into coaching, but I knew I would stay in New Jersey. My girlfriend is from Westfield. I’m from South Plainfield. She definitely wanted to stay in Jersey. College coaching just felt like such a great fit, and it was great timing.
“When Cody Brewer was hired (as an assistant) I was super excited. He was another national champ, I had visited Oklahoma and I followed his career closely. And then you have a special head coach in Joe Dubuque. That gives us three national champions with similar backgrounds and with me in that middleweight role, it felt like we could build a program that could contend for a national trophy on a staff like this. I love that Princeton is not not just the best athletes, either. They are top tier human beings, kids that get great grades, are much more well-rounded individuals and many of them go on to careers on Wall Street, travel the world and work for big corporations or start their own corporations.”
Dubuque said Ashnault told him he felt like he was being recruited all over again.
“I cold-called him last October and talked to him and his focus was on becoming an Olympic champion and achieving that goal,” said Dubuque. “So I kept in touch and it was kind of like recruiting an athlete. I’d reach out to wish him luck before a competition or tell him awesome job when he had success. Then I gave him some time after the Trials and just reached back out and he was very interested.
“That name recognition and what he did as a wrestler is impactful. A lot of guys grew up watching him on the high school level at Boardwalk Hall and winning a national title at Rutgers. I think as a coach he’ll be amazing, and down the line a while he’ll make a great head coach some day and I’m going to mentor and help him as much as I can. He’s been great in the room, in the office, talking to alumni. He’s really going to help the program.”
Ashnault said as he’s hit the recruiting trail, he’s found the next generation of wrestlers - particularly New Jersey wrestlers - know all about his history and have interest in joining him in this next phase.
“I’ve found particularly in New Jersey (that name recognition) holds a lot of weight and gets my foot in the door,” said Ashnault. “They’ve followed my career since they were little kids.New Jersey wrestling is a small community, and at 29 years old I’m young enough and still relatable.”
Sophomore Ty Whalen, who is expected to be in the All-American mix this season after taking a greyshirt year, said he has already benefitted from Ashnault’s tutelage. Whalen is competing at 149 pounds, the same weight class Ashnault won his national title in 2019.
“I spend a lot of time with Coach Ashnault and to have a national champ that was in your weight class, he’s been wonderful to have,” said Whalen. “When we changed coaches that was a stressful period, but it panned out. (Dubuque) did a fantastic job hiring a staff, and we’re in good hands.
“I feel (Ashnault’s) philosophy is very similar to what I knew growing up at Seagulls with (Pete) DiBiase and John VanBrill, just a focus on getting better every single day, win or lose, just striving to get better instead of being fixated on the end result. He’s technically sound and he’s a very hard worker on and off the mat, and I’m inspired by that.”
On Dec. 8, Princeton will host Rutgers in a match Ashnault admitted he already has circled on his calendar. His former coach is also looking forward to that day and seeing what his national champion does in a long coaching career.
“I love it, I can’t wait to compete against Anthony, him and I talk about it, he’s excited for it, which gets me a little nervous because he’ll have them all jacked up to wrestle,” said Rutgers coach Scott Goodale. “He was here (coaching). He decided he wanted to go chase his dream and wrestle and do it in a different spot because there are a lot of people he knew and trained with here, and he didn’t want to focus on that. He wanted to focus on himself so, like (Columbia assistant) Sebastian (Rivera), is going to have a great career in this sport.
“You can tell (Ashnault’s) into it. He’s on the road. He’s recruiting. He’s going to do some great things, and again, he’s going to have an unbelievable future in this sport for a long, long time. I look forward to that match. Anthony’s the man. It’ll be a lot of fun. His dad is still running the best tailgate with the Rutgers truck at the football games. I don’t know who the dad will be rooting for, but it will be a fun little rivalry with him on the sidelines.”
As for who Bill Ashnault would be rooting for, Anthony Ashnault quipped “I guess you’ll just have to come to the match on Dec. 8 and see what colors he’s wearing. And if he’s not wearing orange, I guess I have some work to do at Christmas.”
As much as the scarlet, grey and black will always be a part of him, Ashnault is looking forward to his next career - and he expects to be in orange and black for a long time.
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“I love all those guys at Rutgers and I want them to be successful, but I want to beat them on Dec. 8,” said Ashnault. “I‘m going to be here the next five years at least and maybe longer unless I decide I want to be a head coach somewhere else. I love being at Princeton, our staff with Nate Jackson here too, our program. I love everything about it.”
Bill Evans can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him at @bybillevans.
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