History! Anthony Ashnault First 4x All-American in Program History: NCAA Tournament Session III Recap

Anthony Ashnault had one goal when he came to Piscataway.

Put Rutgers on the map.

Oh has he ever. Ashnault became the first 4x All-American in program history with his victory of Jarrett Degen of Iowa State in the quarterfinals. He will get a rematch with Princeton’s Matt Kolodzik in tonight’s semi-finals.

Nick Suriano also earned All-American status for the second straight year after a dominating display by pinning Minnesota’s Ethan Lizak. He’ll get a rematch with Michigan’s Stevan Micic in tonight’s semi-finals.

The two All-Americans will be the only two Scarlet Knights remaining in the tournament as Joe Grello and John Van Brill fell in round three of the consolations.

Match Results

Championship Quarterfinals

133: No. 3 Nick Suriano

Result: Win by Pin (4:24) over No. 6 Ethan Lizak (Minnesota)

-Oh my goodness. Suriano was on a different level for this one. A few takedowns and a lot of tilts to earn back points. Suriano eventually stuck Lizak to the mat by hooking the leg and cradling Lizak’s head. The R-U section was definitely heard.

This is the second consecutive year as an All-American for Suriano.

Suriano will get a rematch with No. 3 Steven Micic of Michigan in the semi-finals. Micic defeated Suriano 3-2 at the RAC last month.

149: No. 1 Anthony Ashnault

Result: Win by Decision 10-3 over No. 8 Jarrett Degen (Iowa State)

-He continues to mob. Ashnault is headed to the semi finals for the third time in his career. He dominated Degen on top and in neutral to cruise his way to the podium. Ashnault is the first 4x All-American in Rutgers Wrestling history.

Guess what? Ashnault will take on No. 5 Matt Kolodzik of Princeton....again. It’s going to be a fantastic semi final. Remember what happened last time?

2nd Round Wrestle-backs

157: No. 16 John Van Brill

Results: Win by Pin (6:24) over No. 18 Logan Parks (Central Michigan)

vs. No. 8 Josh Humphreys (Lehigh)

-Van Brill was very good on top. He earned nearfall points and controlled the match in neutral. Parks almost came back with a cradle in the third period but Van Brill bellied down and got a cradle of his own for the fall.

Loss by Major Decision 11-0 to No. 8 Josh Humphreys (Lehigh)

-Van Brill got caught early and could not recover. He tried a big move near the end but threw himself to his back and could not climb out of a big hole. Van Brill ends his tournament 2-2 and will finish his Rutgers career as a 3x NCAA Qualifier.

174: No. 29 Joe Grello

Results: Win by Decision 2-1 in TB1 over No. 14 Kimball Bastian (Utah Valley)

-There wasn’t much offense in this one, but Grello scored when it mattered. In tiebreaker one, Grello escaped with two seconds left during his time on bottom and then was able to ride out Bastian for 30 seconds in the second half of the tiebreaker to advance. Grello is now 2-1 in the tournament.

Loss by Decision 7-3 vs. No. 6 David McFadden (Virginia Tech)

-Grello fought hard but ultimately got a little unlucky with All-American candidate McFadden dropping early into the wrestle-backs. An otherwise good showing from Grello in the 2019 tournament as he finished 2-2.