Sport: Wrestling
Born: June 25, 1995
Town: South Plainfield, New Jersey
Anthony James Ashnault was born June 25, 1995 in Paramus and grew up in South Plainfield, NJ. Anthony and his older Billy were small, wiry, powerful athletes who loved to wrestle—at first in rec leagues and around the house and, as teenagers, for the South Plainfield High School Tigers. Anthony was technically near-perfect as a 103-pound freshman and he tore through his first varsity season for coach Kevin McCann undefeated.
A relentless worker, Anthony continued his unbeaten streak through his senior year, becoming New Jersey’s first undefeated four-time champion. He was the third four-time champ, following Mike Grey and Andrew Campolattano, who lost one match each during their prep careers.
Anthony and friends and teammates Troy Heilmann and Tyler Hunt were known as “Murderers Row.” Anthony, who grew to 5’7”, wrestled at 126 as a junior and started showing up in national Top 10 lists. When the recruiters came calling, Anthony decided to stay in-state and grabbed a scholarship from Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights had the inside track, as Billy was named the team’s director of operations. Billy later became the head coach at Christian Brothers Academy.
As a senior wrestling at 138 pounds, Anthony dealt with a serious ankle injury much of the year. He capped his career at South Plainfield by defeating arch-rival Gary Dinmore 4–2 with 12 seconds left and then bolted 35 rows into the stands at Boardwalk Hall to embrace his family. The Courier-News called it the most significant moment in New Jersey high-school sports history. It was Anthony’s 170th career victory.
At Rutgers, Anthony red-shirted in 2013–14 and wrestled at 141 pounds his first three varsity seasons (2014–15 to 2016–17) and finished in the Top 10 at the NCAA Championships each year, earning All-America recognition three times—a first for Rutgers wrestling. In 2015–16, he went 33–5 and became the school’s first individual Big 10 titlist. He repeated as Big 10 champ in 2017.
Anthony missed 2017–18 with an injury and was granted eligibility to compete as a sixth-year senior. He went undefeated in 32 matches wrestling at 149 pounds. He and Scarlet Knights teammate Nick Suriano—a transfer from Penn State—both won at the 2019 NCAA Championships. Anthony defeated Micah Jordan of Ohio State in the final.
Anthony graduated with a 139–22 record as a collegian. That spring he also won a gold medal at the Pan American Championships in Buenos Aires. In four matches, Anthony spent just over four minutes on the mat and outpointed his opponents, 32–2. He missed competing in the 2019 World Championship after suffering a knee injury against James Green in the final qualifying match.
In 2020, Anthony successfully defended his title at the Pan American Games. He was focused on competing in the 2020 Olympics but the trials and the Summer Games were postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021, he fell short of making the team.
Later that year, Anthony was hired by Rutgers coach Scott Goodale, replacing assistant John Leonardis. Coaching did not suit Anthony, however, and the following summer he stepped down to devote more time to his international wrestling career.