The historic bell on top of an administrative building at Old Queens on the campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick doesn’t get rung too often.

Gifted by Col. Henry Rutgers in 1826, the bell is now reserved and only rung to commemorate significant achievements, including in athletics, or events.

On a beautiful Tuesday afternoon, Rutgers wrestling 2019 national champions Anthony Ashnault and Nick Suriano, as well as their head coach, Scott Goodale, did the honors. This past weekend, Suriano became the first national champion in program history after he defeated Oklahoma State’s Daton Fix in the second sudden-victory period in the 133-pound final at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. Ashnault followed suit by topping Ohio State’s Micah Jordan, 9-4, less than an hour later in the 149-pound championship bout.

It was the first national title for either grappler.

Exactly 16 years years early on the same day of the month, March 23, Rutgers produced its last national champion in fencer Alexis Jemal in 2003.

“After their wins, I started getting bombarded with texts asking me, ‘when are you going to ring bell’? So now, we’re going to ring that bell,” Athletic Director Pat Hobbs said to start the ceremony.

The bell is rung every year to mark commencement, welcome freshmen students at the new student convocation and on Rutgers Day. Recently, the bell was rung for the inauguration of the new president, the medical-school integration of Rutgers in 2014, the 250th anniversary of the institution in 2016, and in 2014 when the Scarlet Knights women’s basketball team won the WNIT.

In 1982, the bell was rung in honor of the women’s basketball team AIAW National Championship and its Final Four appearances in the NCAA Tournaments in 2000 and 2007. The men’s basketball team, which made it to the Final Four fresh off of an undefeated season, rang the bell 26 times for each win. Undefeated seasons in 1961 and 1976 for the football team allowed the Old Queens bell to ring as well.

“First and foremost thank you everybody for coming out. This is really special,” said Goodale, who took the Rutgers job 12 years ago in 2007. “It’s great to see a lot of familiar and new faces and teammates and family. We’re fired up. It was a magical weekend. There’s no question about it. The stars aligned and some really good things happened. I think the most important thing is these guys have been doing this for a long time. There was a tremendous amount of believe that they would win the tournament and they went out and did it. It’s a hard thing to do. These guys have faced a lot of adversities to get to this point. This is more than just about our wrestling program. It’s about this athletic department and our university. Thank you everyone for the support for all the 12 years our staff has been here.”

Suriano, a Bergen Catholic product who transferred from Penn State prior to last season, avenged his three regular seasons by defeating Iowa’s Austin Desanto at the Big Ten Tournament and Michigan Stevan Micic and Fix at the national tournament.

“I just want to say it’s a blessing to be here at Rutgers. I’m so happy I made the decision to come back home to New Jersey. I’ve had all the support I needed to accomplish my goal,” Suriano said. “I wanted to do it a couple years ago. I had some lumps to get through. I fell short last year and battled through injuries. This year more adversity came my way with some losses and I never stopped believing and I never quit. I had everything I needed to accomplish this feat with my coaches and family. It’s a blessing.”

Ashnault, who is from nearby South Plainfield, is a legend. He is Rutgers’ first four-time All-American and three-time Big Ten champ. He finished the season unblemished and is the Scarlet Knights all-time wins leader with 123 victories.

“Thank you everyone for coming out. I’m glad my teammates are here. I’m glad they realized it’s not Old Queens Tavern, it’s the Old Queens. We’re excited,” Ashnault said. “I’m excited Nick was the first national champ. After the match they were trying to get me to answer questions on if I was salty or being mad about that, but I’m forever grateful for him to come to Rutgers and he deserves it. If there wasn’t a Nick Suriano, there may not be an Anthony Ashnault or vice versa. We fed off each other for two years. We both got a lot better from being around each other. We got two national champs and it’s a lot better than one or none. God bless and thank you all for coming.”

Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisWasky. Be sure to watch the video and check out the photo album as well.