Anthony Knox era set to begin for Rutgers wrestling: ‘I’m here to win’

PISCATAWAY – Most freshmen wrestlers would look at a weight as loaded as the NCAA 125-pound class is and temper their expectations.

It’s deep waters but Rutgers University freshman Anthony Knox does not fret about it. He has never lacked for confidence in his own abilites, and for good reason. He is one of five wrestlers to win four NJSIAA championships on the mat.

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“I’m here to win,” Knox, the former St. John Vianney High School standout, said Thursday morning at the Scarlet Knights’ Media Day. “It’s not an excuse that I’m a freshman. The time to win is now.”

Penn State’s Luke Lilledahl, the defending national champion, heads the weight class.

Also at 125 is Nebraska’s Vincent Robinson, the 2025 national champion when he was at North Carolina State; Princeton’s Marc-Anthony McGowan, the runner-up last season; and Oklahoma State’s Troy Spratley, the 2025 runner-up.

And those four are just for starters. Stanford’s Nico Provo, third last year, Minnesota’s Jore Volk and Virginia Tech’s Eddie Ventresca are among the other past All-Americans at the weight.

The weight is so deep that Knox, who transferred to Rutgers from Cornell last January and did not wrestle collegiately last season, is ranked just 18th by intematwrestle.com with the Scarlet Knights set to open their season Nov. 7 at the Journeymen Wrangle Mania in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania against Long Island University and Navy.

“(Rutgers head coach Scott Goodale) said – Bo Bassett (Virginia Tech’s sensational freshman 141-pounder) is in the world finals (Friday),” Knox said. “He beat a world champion on his way there and another world champion lost.”

Rankings ultimately don’t matter, Knox said, because “you’ve got to show up every single day. You’ve got to show up every single year to the right tournaments. You’ve got to be able to compete for three days. I know I’m going to be ready to compete for those three days in March. I hope those guys are, because if not, it’s going to be a long weekend for them.”

Knox’s presence has made this season highly anticipated for Rutgers

Goodale, who is in his 20th season as the Scarlet Knights’ head coach, said he lets Knox do his own talking when it comes to expectations.

But there’s no doubt the presence of Knox has given a jolt to a program that has not had an All-American the last two seasons and three of the last four.

“He throws the words ‘national championship’ around quite a bit. I truly believe he thinks that. That’s the way he’s wired. That’s awesome to be around,” Goodale said. “I know down the line, he’s thinking not just one (national championship). It’s our job as a staff to hold him to that standard, and that’s every day. I’m excited that he feels that way. Hopefully, he’s attracted guys to think the same way.

“It’s very very similar to when (current Rutgers’ associate head coach Anthony Ashnault) and Nick (Suriano) were here in 2019 (when both became Rutgers’ only national champions). They were chasing each other without talking about it. You could tell they both had aspirations of winning national titles with the way they went about their business. That’s kind of what Knox is like.”

Knox will find out where he stands throughout the regular season

Knox will be battle-tested well before the post-season.

He will likely wrestle Lilledahl, Robinson, McGowan and Volk in dual meets. There is a chance he could wrestle Spratley, Provo and Ventresca when Rutgers participates in the National Duals Invitational Dec. 12-13 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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Knox will also likely meet No. 19 Leo DeLuca of Iowa in a dual meet and No. 20 Matty Lopes of Lehigh in the Scarlet Knights’ home opener on Nov. 15.

“This summer, I wrestled Spencer twice (Iowa’s former three-time national champion and 2024 Olympic Silver Medalist Spencer Lee). He’s probably the best in the world right now. I took him down three times,” Knox said. “I know I can take down anybody in the world. It’s just putting together the right match and putting together a balanced pace, and a balanced rhythm

“Every time I step on the mat, it’s going to be seven minutes of high pace, a lot of wrestling positions, a lot of scoring opportunities. All I have to do is put myself in wrestling positions and I think I’ll have a really good season.”

Knox gets high endorsment from Ashnault

Ashnault thinks the sky is the limit for Knox.

“I just see a four-time All-American, a multiple-time national champ,” Ashnault, Rutgers’ only four-time All-American and one of the five wrestlers to win four NJSIAA championships, said. “He has an opportunity to win the NCAAs right now. He wants to be a world champ, an Olympic champ. He’s definitely capable of doing those things and I think he can do them while he’s young.

“Every day, in the room, he wants to challenge himself to the best partners, and outside of Rutgers University, he will do anything he can to get the very best resources he can get. It makes you realize he will do whatever it takes to win.”

Ashnault says he sees some of himself in Knox.

“In terms of the wrestling obsession, for sure,” Ashnault said. “He’s just obssessed with winning. When the day goes well, he tries to harness that and figure out why it went really well. When days don’t go well in the room, he’s like, ‘I need to figure this out right now. I can’t wait for tomorrow,” ”

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Anthony Knox era set to begin for Rutgers wrestling: ‘I’m here to win’