Rutgers Wrestling: Ashnault headlines 2014-15 awards

The Rutgers Wrestling program held its annual awards banquet on Wednesday, highlighting the team's accomplishments in its first season in the Big Ten.

The Knights went 14-7-1 overall in 2014-15 and tied for 31st at the NCAA Championships.  At the championships, freshman Anthony Ashnault became the school's 10th All-American with an eighth-place finish at 141 pounds. Rutgers also finished sixth in the country in attendance, according to Roby Publishing.

Freshman All-American Anthony Ashnault earned a total of four awards, including Most Valuable.  The South Plainfield native was also named Freshman of the Year, and his comeback victory over 18th-ranked Jamel Hudson of Hofstra was deemed the Nike Match of the Year.  With an outstanding 19-2 record in dual matches, Ashnault also earned Dual-Meet Scoring Champion honors.

Sophomore Scott DelVecchio and junior Ken Theobold also took home multiple honors.  DelVecchio, an NCAA qualifier at 133 pounds, was named Most Improved and his 7-1 rout over 7th-ranked Johnni DiJulius of Ohio State earned the co-Big Win Award.  Theobold, an NCAA qualifier at 149 pounds, earned the Community Service Award along with the Comeback Match of the Year Award for his 7-6 win over Minnesota's Jake Short.

Billy Smith (Scholar-Athlete of the Year), Anthony Pafumi (Coaches Award), Hayden Hrymack (Fall of the Year) and Anthony Perrotti (co-Big Win Award) also received honors.

Smith was named Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the second time after earning All-Academic Big Ten honors and qualifying for the NCAA Championships for the third time in his career.  Pafumi, who won the Coaches Award, was also named All-Academic Big Ten.

Hrymack and Perrotti were recognized for single-match performances.  Hrymack's third-period pin in Rutgers' win over 19th-ranked Oklahoma was named the Fall of the Year and Perrotti's upset over 9th-ranked Josh Demas of Ohio State was also given the Big Win Award.