PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Sixth-year senior
Anthony Ashnault has represented Rutgers wrestling on some of the sports' biggest stages. According to the three-time All-American, competing in those spots is nothing compared to traveling with strangers to a country halfway across the planet.
Ashnault will join members of Athletes in Action – an organization that uses sports to spread the Christian faith through volunteer initiatives – on a two-week trip to Kazakhstan from July 2 through July 17.
Ashnault said teammate
Nicholas Gravina – a vocal member of the group on campus – introduced him to AIA. Ashnault began attending meetings a few years ago and was presented with the idea of going to Kazakhstan on a mission trip. The two-time Big Ten champion at 141 pounds admits the idea of it all was bit out of his comfort zone, but it was an opportunity he simply could not pass up.
"For me, it was just tough to get over the fact that I was fighting myself over it because I did not want to do all of the traveling and I did not want to be in a country that was foreign to me," Ashnault said. "At the end of the day when it came down to make a decision, those were silly reasons to not expose myself to this side of my personality. I'm not going to have these opportunities. It's a trip I felt like I could not pass up."
The South Plainfield, New Jersey, native is part of the AIA Central Asia team, which features 2018 national champion Seth Gross from South Dakota State, 2017 national runner-up Joey Lavallee from Missouri and wrestlers from other colleges from around the United States. The team will participate in training opportunities with several Central Asian wrestling clubs and will compete in the World Clubs Cup on Friday, July 6.
"For me, wrestling these next two weeks will open up my style by wrestling guys I've never seen before," Ashnault said. "They don't know what I do and vice versa, so it will give me a chance to open up and to be open in my approach by going for things that I normally wouldn't go for. Win, lose or draw, it does not really have an effect on anything wrestling wise. I'll still be ready to go for Rutgers for our first dual next season."
Wrestling is merely a reward of this 15-day excursion. Members of the AIA Central Asia team will participate in ministry opportunities at local wrestling clubs, prisons, orphanages and schools. The group will also work with some of the underprivileged and teach them the sport, as well as provide anything to help them along the way.
"Most of the places we will be at are not as fortunate as us," Ashnault said. "We all brought extra gear and wrestling shoes, basically whatever extra we had to give out."
Ashnault – who was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA and will wrestle for the Scarlet Knights in 2018-19 – understands this is a big moment for personal growth. The fact he gets to help others while participating in the sport he loves makes the trip to Kazakhstan all the worthwhile.
"Besides the religion and wrestling parts of the trip, I'm going to a different country by myself with no one I have never met before," Ashnault said. "It is going to definitely give me a chance to get to know myself better. I'll figure out what I'm comfortable with, what my limits are and it is going to even help me on the mat. I get to wrestle some of the best wrestlers in other countries as well as work with some of the best from the US. I'm looking to take as much as I can out of this."
Make sure to follow Ashnault's journey on @RUWrestling, where he will share photos of his trip. Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook (
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