Ashton Mutuwa, a Campbellsville University alum, is the first male from the wrestling program to wrestle in the Olympics, making him the third CU athlete to participate in the Olympic games. Mutuwa graduated from the university in 2020 with a degree in accounting and is now working in cybersecurity.
Mutuwa was raised in Cedar Lake, Indiana, located roughly 45 miles from Chicago. When Mutuwa was young, his town had a thriving youth wrestling club. His childhood passion for WWE eventually led him to pursue wrestling himself.
“When I was in kindergarten, my friend had a huge scratch,” he said. “ I asked him where he got it, and he said it was from wrestling practice. I asked my mom to take me, thinking it was a WWE practice. It was not but I fell in love with the sport quickly.”
Mutuwa spent the first two years of his college career at Truman State University in Missouri. TSU ended up shutting down their wrestling program due to it being underfunded. Mutuwa started looking for a new college to wrestle for and that’s when Franky James, the head coach of the CU men’s wrestling team, recruited Mutuwa for his junior and senior year (2018-20). Mutuwa had a total of 39 wins and 20 losses in the two years he competed at CU.
“I really liked the coaches and the facilities at CU,” he said. “Truman was super underfunded in regards to wrestling and Campbellsville was the opposite, they had anything I could imagine. They had proven to have a history of very consistent success, so I knew I’d be able to find success through the program.”
During his senior year, he let it all out. He went 6-1 in a NAIA Tournament, was NAIA All-American finishing third and earned Mid-South Champion of Character. He was seeded ninth in the national tournament and reached the 12th round in his junior year. Before that, he was a varsity wrestler for two seasons at Truman State University in Missouri and was a state qualifier at Hanover Central High School in Indiana.
Mutuwa made a difference on his wrestling team while attending CU. His teammates saw him as a leader and noticed his dedication in school and on the mats.
“Ashton is a memorable guy,” Coach James said. “For him to be going to Paris and competing in the Olympics is great for Ashton and is great for our program as well.”
Mutuwa said wrestling at Campbellsville University was one of the best times of his life. Mutuwa felt he had achieved the perfect balance between academics, athletics and social life. Rooming and hanging out with his best friends every day, traveling for wrestling competitions, and being part of a successful team have been some of his best memories in life. He thoroughly enjoyed his time at CU and still misses Green River Lake.
“I really enjoyed it,” he said. “It can be really hard as a transfer to make friends. I struggled with that for maybe a semester, but after a while I found friends on and off the wrestling team. By my second year, the wrestling team was my family. We had so much fun that season we were a strong team, and we were traveling across the country doing what we loved.”
Mutuwa’s goal for wrestling in college was to become an All-American at the national tournament. Mutuwa got really close to his goal and ended up placing third in the country. Before attending CU, Mutuwa never imagined that he’d be good enough to compete for a national title.
“He was always really focused on winning, and he took third in the country and was right there with the best guys,” former teammate Cameron Henderson said. “He always cared about the team and was a leader and always led by example.”
Once Mutuwa completed his grad assistant program through the university, he moved to Denver, Colorado then to Washington D.C. In the midst of moving, he stayed with his parents at Cedarlake where he got back in touch with his best friend from high school who was trying to get him back onto the matt. In the four years Mutuwa was out of college, he had only touched the mat five times.
“My best friend from high school is a world champion and 2020 Olympian,” he said. “He started trying to convince me to pick training back up and try to qualify for the Olympics for Nigeria as he did it through Serbia. We talked about what it would take to qualify, and how cool it is to represent your country of heritage. It took quite some convincing but after a week or so I started training again and never looked back.”
Training for the Olympics has been very stressful for Mutuwa and full of challenges. He has been busy moving across the country, visiting Nigeria, returning to the U.S., becoming engaged, traveling back to Nigeria, and then competing in Ghana and Egypt, all while maintaining a full-time job. Despite the considerable challenges, he continues to show determination and dedication to the sport he loves.
“It’s something I wanted really bad so it’s worth it, but it is a lot to balance,” Mutuwa said.
Mutuwa’s Olympic journey has surpassed his expectations so far. Mutuwa has been amazed with how everything has played out for him even with all of the challenges he had to overcome. When he began his journey, he was worried about not being able to pay for his expenses to travel to Nigeria for the team trials. So, he reached out to his community and set up a GoFundMe account and within four hours he was able to raise $4,000. Just as he was able to solve that problem another sprung. Mutuwa started showing flu-like symptoms and had to wrestle his way through the trials ill.
“For the national team trials, I got the flu really bad,” he said. “I had to do my wrestle off super sick but somehow, I was able to pull off all the wins I needed.
Then, after a month of training, he traveled to Africa for some competitions. Mutuwa thought God’s plan was for him to reach the Olympic trials, but he later discovered that it was much more than that.
“I originally thought God had all this play out so perfectly so I could qualify for the Olympics, but I am beginning to see there is so much more,” Mutuwa said. “I’ve been able to reconnect with family and dive headfirst into the Nigerian culture. I think I have some big plans for helping wrestling development in Africa, Nigeria specifically.”
From the meaningful reconnections of family and friends to the significant milestones achieved, Mutuwa’s journey has been a testament to resilience and determination. Mutuwa is beyond grateful for the support system that he has built but wouldn’t have been able to do it without his fiance, Amanda Gordon, family and friends.
“I’ll be competing at the Olympics, this is an opportunity most people only dream of,” Mutuwa said. “I am going to train hard and have fun. I have no pressure. I’ll just continue doing what I’ve always done, have fun. I used to really question why Truman cut their program, but I can clearly see God’s hand at play now.”
