Anthony Cassar

Raised in Rocky Hill, New Jersey,[2] Cassar started wrestling at around the age of 7 to 8.[3] He attended Montgomery High School in New Jersey. During his freshman, sophomore and junior years, he never qualified for state and compiled a record of 73 wins and 30 losses. In his senior year, he finally qualified for state and became the fourth person in the history of the state to win the tournament after never qualifying before. He compiled an undefeated record of 43 wins and no losses in his final season and an 116–30 record overall.[4][5]

After his performance as a high school senior, he committed to Penn State University.[6] He redshirted 2014-15 and compiled a record of 15-8 while wrestling unattached.[7] He originally missed his freshman and sophomore seasons due to an injury but was granted one more year of eligibility by the NCAA, so he only lost his freshman year but would compete as a sophomore in 2017–18. As a sophomore, he compiled a record of 16-2 during regular season with a Keystone Classic title[8] and a third-place finish at the Southern Scuffle after being defeated by his teammate Shakur Rasheed. Despite his success, he was left in the bench for the post season and the teammate whom he had lost to was chosen as the starter.[9][10] In his next season, he moved up to heavyweight (285 pounds) and saw immediate success, posting a record of 21-1 during regular season with lone loss to Derek White at the Southern Scuffle's finals.[11] In the post season, he made his way to the first-place finish at the Big Ten Championships with wins over the #6 and #7 ranked wrestlers and top-ranked Gable Steveson at the finale.[12] At the 2019 NCAA championships, he got the victory over multiple ranked wrestlers including Steveson in the semifinals to make his way to the finale. In the finals, he avenged his regular season's loss on a dominant major decision win over Derek White to claim the championship on his first trip to the NCAA championships.[13] In his final season, he had posted a record of 3 wins and no losses but was affected by a shoulder injury while competing at a freestyle event and subsequently announced his career as a collegiate wrestler was over.[14]

Cassar graduated with a record of 49 wins and 3 losses during his time as a Nittany Lion.[15]

Cassar made his senior level debut on December 22 at the US Nationals, in an attempt to earn a shot at the Olympic Trials.[18] He dominantly won his first two bouts to reach the semifinals,[19] where he was forced to abandon the match due to a shoulder injury and forfeited his next contests too. This injury also caused the end of his senior season at Penn State.[20]

Cassar was scheduled to compete at the Last Chance Olympic Trials qualifier on March 27 at Millersville, Pennsylvania.[21] However, the event was postponed along with the Olympic Games and Trials due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[22]