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NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP

March 22, 2019

Anthony Ashnault

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

149 Pounds

THE MODERATOR: Anthony, congratulations.

ANTHONY ASHNAULT: Thank you.

THE MODERATOR: First appearance in the national championship match. Talk a little bit about your match and what this means to you to head to tomorrow night's championship match.

ANTHONY ASHNAULT: This is just pretty cool. I'm sitting up here in my singlet in a press conference. I feel like a rock star right now, but I'm really excited. This is a moment I dreamed about, a moment to run out on that carpet, take that stage and put on a performance. I've been dreaming about that moment for a long time. So I'm excited to be able to make it a reality.

Q. You mentioned it, but how sweet is it after a couple of near misses to be here in this moment?
ANTHONY ASHNAULT: Man, that match was nerve-racking for the situation going into it. I wasn't nervous at all just because I wrestled him a bunch of times in practices and competitions, but just like one wrong move, he's the kind of wrestler that wins a lot of matches by one point to get the takedown at the end, and I think that just causes us to be a little tentative on our feet.

But I knew I was going to have to do something like that to win that match. I knew he was going to come out with a good game plan after the dual meet we had this year. He's a very tough competitor and he's a very good kid. Props to him for a great match. But I was just prepared. I worked my whole life since I was four years old starting to wrestle for an opportunity to be on the stage in the national tournament, and now it's here.

Q. Obviously you and Nick Suriano are going to be talked about a lot together in the same sentence. What are the biggest differences between the two of you?
ANTHONY ASHNAULT: His name is Nick, my name is Anthony. He's from Bergen Catholic, I'm from South Plainfield. I don't know, we're just kids having a good time out here, man. He's super serious and super locked in when he goes to compete, but he's a normal kid outside of this, and we're very good friends, and I was so excited to see him compete this whole tournament. He's finally like competing and opening up and just letting his offense fly, and he looks like the best guy in that weight right now.

But we're just excited to have two Rutgers guys. I came to Rutgers at a time when Rutgers wasn't close to the top 20, and now we're consistently in the top 10 in this tournament, and last year we finished right outside of the top 10.

And the goal coming in was to have me and Nick be champs, and our whole team supports us for that. Our families and our fans, and it was kind of expected for us both to be in the finals, and now we're ready to go win it.

Q. Anthony, sometimes people think that you two are almost like an odd couple, you and Suriano. Is there any truth to that? And also just talk about being the face of the Rutgers program. Like when you earned your fourth All-American, they made a point of announcing it. Is there any pressure to having that?
ANTHONY ASHNAULT: In previous years there's been a lot of pressure. I put it on myself mostly. But honestly, this year it's been all about me and what I want out of the sport and what I want out of my life, so the pressure, really I took it away from doing it for Rutgers and doing it for the state, of course. Of course I want to be doing that, and I want to put Rutgers on the map, and that's why I came to school, to put Rutgers and get guys like Nick Suriano and get top recruits out of high school, but at the end of the day, this is something I want to be doing. I want to be the national champ for myself, and glory to God, but this is a goal that I've had written down and I've looked at for a long time.

But being an odd couple, I don't really know what you mean by that. We grew up wrestling, going to the same coach for a long time. I remember actually he was in seventh grade and I was in high school, I already won a couple state titles, and I always made it a point to do the most like out of anyone, stay after, come early, and he was a little twerp, little 70 pounder, and he wouldn't leave practice until I was done, and we were running splits side by side and doing pull-ups, push-ups, whatever, in his little Under Armour shirt, like he does now still.

But from that moment I knew he was going to be special, and we had a good bond just from the sport. I don't know if you would say that's an odd couple. I think we're just two competitors that want to win and are willing to do whatever it takes.

Q. Talk about Micah Jordan in the finals, obviously a guy you've beaten twice this year. Talk about the confidence you have going into that match and also coming from a great wrestling town like South Plainfield just really putting South Plainfield on the map.
ANTHONY ASHNAULT: Yeah, I was rocking my Tigers South Plainfield shirt before that match. For me it was just a special moment. I wanted to soak it in and remember where I came from. You know, I've been to the semifinals twice and lost. It was more just being grateful, being out there, and I just wanted to take a moment to realize my journey, and no matter what the outcome of that match was going to be, I was just grateful to be there.

And coming from South Plainfield, we're a very big wrestling town and we're a very big community, family oriented, and I've got a lot of people here that came to watch me from there, and I'm just so blessed and extremely grateful that my family is here to support me, and I extend that family all the way to South Plainfield people, and I'm just blessed.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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