PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Assistant coach Anthony Ashnault has resigned his position with Rutgers wrestling, announced today by head coach Scott Goodale. The Scarlet Knights' all-time wins leader and 2019 NCAA Champion, Ashnault will focus his attention full time on his freestyle wrestling career.
 
"I am excited to make a full-time commitment to competing as a freestyle athlete," Ashnault said. "Coaching at Rutgers this past season has given me a tremendous amount of insight and has revitalized my excitement for wanting to compete at the sport's highest level."
 
The only four-time All-American and three-time Big Ten Champion in program history, Ashnault wrestled for the Scarlet Knights from 2014-19 and capped his collegiate career with an individual title at the 2019 NCAA Championships in Pittsburgh. The South Plainfield, New Jersey, native is also a two-time Rutgers University graduate after he earned his bachelor's in planning and public policy in 2018 and his master's in global sports business in 2020.
 
Ashnault's collegiate resume is lengthy, as the South Plainfield, New Jersey native produce a program record 123 wins during his time as a student-athlete "On the Banks". Ashnault went 32-0 as a senior during the 2018-19 campaign en route to 149-pound NCAA and Big Ten titles, as he became the program's first ever Hodge Trophy finalist with a 59% bonus rate that season.
 
Competing at both 141 and 149 pounds as a Scarlet Knight, Ashnault secured All-America laurels four times, earned three Big Ten individual titles and accounted for 296 duals points to help Rutgers rack up 44 dual victories and 18 against Big Ten Conference opponents. Ashnault also secured an individual title at the prestigious Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and placed three times at the Midlands Championships.
 
"We want to thank Anthony for everything he has done for this program," Goodale said. "Anthony has been the face of Rutgers wrestling for almost a decade, and we are excited to be in his corner as he continues this next step in his freestyle wrestling career. A national search to find his replacement on our staff will begin immediately."
 
With Ashnault on staff, Rutgers closed the 2021-22 season with its most dual wins (16) since 2012-13 and its highest final ranking in the NWCA Coaches Poll (14) since 2017. RU qualified seven to the 2022 NCAA Championships – the most since 2017 – and had all participants score at the national tournament. Greg Bulsak (197) and Sebastian Rivera (141) added All-America honors to make it seven consecutive seasons with multiple All-Americans at NCAAs. With his bronze medal, Rivera became the fourth individual to secure a top-three finish at nationals in program history.