AMES — Make it happen.

Three simple words became a lifelong motto for a kid from Sacramento, California, with big dreams to make it to wrestling’s biggest stage: the Olympics.

From a young age, Anthony Wesley sharpened his skills on the mat to become the best wrestler he could be. From his major success as a child to his collegiate experience at Iowa State to the world stage where he represented Cabo Verde, Anthony has embodied his motto and made it happen.

“I live by that because I possess all of the tools, resources and connections to make the impossible very attainable,” Anthony said.

Born to wrestle

Anthony has lived and breathed wrestling his entire life.

Anthony’s father, August Wesley, instilled the love of the sport into him from a young age. August was a successful wrestler before he started coaching.

August also wrestled for a majority of his life and was a collegiate wrestler. August wrestled for Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club, where former Iowa State wrestling head coach Kevin Jackson also wrestled around the same time.

The two, August and Jackson, won several national championships while on the same freestyle team.

“That built a bond between me and him, and we are trying to accomplish the same things—so our goals are similar. We got to know each other pretty well during that time,” Jackson said.

After that, however, they went their separate ways. The bond was still there, but they were not as in touch as they were before.

August moved on to bigger and bigger stages, continually improving his craft. He also wrestled in four world championships and competed in the Olympic trials for Team USA twice. 

His experience on the world stage helped instill the desire to find success in international wrestling in Anthony.

Anthony was introduced to wrestling at five years old. From then on, he was instantly hooked.

From the start of Anthony’s young wrestling career, it was clear that he was special. He dominated his weight class and always found himself at the top.

Anthony made it to nationals with his middle school team and was the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the state of California in middle school. At a young age, Anthony traveled to Illinois to compete in duals for the national team, starting off his experience battling on top stages.

Anthony also made it to the national finals in middle school where he wrestled for a gold medal in two separate wrestling styles, freestyle and Greco-Roman, which helped him later on, as he would compete in those styles on the world stage.

Although he fell just short, he came away with two silver medals from the National Finals.

“We just kinda knew that if he just stays around the top of his age level, then he will just naturally be where he needs to be for an Olympic team later,” August said.

When Anthony got to high school, he had the experience on the national stage to excel right from the jump. He made California’s cadet national team as a freshman. 

The cadet team went on to compete in the junior and senior national championships. Anthony was good enough to make the junior team and compete as a freshman. As a sophomore, he wrestled in the national championships again.

Throughout middle and high school, Anthony was always at or near the top, a good sign going forward as he hoped to work toward his Olympic dreams.

Anthony knew what his final goals were from the start and knew what he needed to do to accomplish them. He was motivated to compete hard because he knew losing was not an option. He was put on this earth to wrestle, so he was going to wrestle his heart out.

“I hate losing,” Anthony said. “I am a firm believer that everyone gets at least one talent, and for me, it’s wrestling.”

When it came time to move on to the next stage, Anthony already knew the best path to achieving his goals. He needed to be under the mentorship of someone who had seen success on the world stage.

Along with that, Anthony’s father happened to have connections to someone with major success on the world stage. August was coaching the Iowa State wrestling club at the time that Jackson was the head coach of Iowa State.

That connection made it easy for Anthony to choose his landing spot.

“I knew his dad when I was an athlete, and that relationship continued until I was a coach,” Jackson said.

Along with the connection to August, Jackson was a decorated athlete himself. 

Jackson had plenty of success on the world stage, earning a gold medal at the 1992 Olympic games. He also earned titles at the 1991 and 1995 World Championships. Along with that, he found success at other international events, claiming three World Cup gold medals and titles in two Pan American Games and two Pan American Championships.

After Jackson’s illustrious wrestling career, he moved into a coaching role, where he coached up a handful of Olympic athletes and NCAA Champions. 

August knew the experience Jackson had on the world stage and how beneficial it would be to build Anthony into a world-class athlete.

A new home brings new challenges

When Anthony got to Iowa State in 2016, he was already a decorated wrestler. He brought his talents to the collegiate stage right away.

Wesley placed third in the USA Junior Nationals in his weight class. He then went on to place fifth at the USA University Nationals in Greco-Roman-style wrestling.

He elected to not compete in the 2016 Olympic trials and focus on wrestling for Iowa State. August said that was one of Anthony’s few mistakes, as he should have competed in the trials because he had a good shot to make a team or at least get more world experience.

When 2017 rolled around, Anthony was ready to move up into a starting role at Iowa State. However, an injury kept him from reaching his goals.

Anthony tore his LCL in 2017, which required surgery to heal. After the injury, Anthony had to begin the long road of rehab before he could see the mat again.

“That was a very, very tough thing for him,” August said.

When Anthony was going through the tough process of recovery, he turned to the people who always had his back: his friends and family.

It would have been easy for Anthony to hang up the singlet and call it a career. Many wrestlers do not come back from serious injuries.

However, that was not what Anthony wanted. Wrestling was his life, and he wanted to keep wrestling.

With the support of his mother and father boosting him up, along with his teammates and close friends, Anthony started the long journey back to the mat. Although the rehab process was long, Anthony built himself up to full strength.

Once he recovered, it was back to work for Anthony. His goal was to make it to the world stage, and the injury was not going to keep him from achieving that.

Anthony graduated from Iowa State in 2020 with a double major in marketing and business administration. He ended up finishing his education by receiving his MBA from Wheeling University in 2023.

Although earning multiple degrees was great for Anthony, he knew that his real calling was to keep wrestling. Anthony never reached the heights he wanted to at the collegiate level, so he kept working to reach higher and higher heights at the international level.

“I know Anthony never reached his full potential,” Jackson said. “He never accomplished what his goals were when he got to Iowa State.”

Not having the chance to reach his full potential was a big driving force in Anthony’s success after college. He knew what he was capable of, and he did not want to stop before the job was done.

The time Anthony spent at Iowa State refined the necessary skills to make waves on the world stage. Those refined skills combined with his new motivation to succeed helped him excel when he got to the international level.

“His aspirations have always been to be the best in the world,” Jackson said.

Onto the world stage

From the start, Anthony has always wanted to wrestle on the world stage.

Anthony’s biggest influences growing up were his father and his cousin, Anthony Amado, who represented the United States in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Anthony was also influenced by the legendary wrestlers who came from Iowa State, those being Dan Gable, Cael Sanderson and Jake Varner, who found success on the world stage and influenced Anthony to keep pushing.

“We walked in the same halls and made the same commitment to Iowa State,” Anthony said.

Jackson preached the plan that Iowa State set out to build Olympic athletes. Instead of being a school that worked to just give athletes a four-year plan or a five-year plan to win a national title and graduate, the team made it into an eight-year plan.

That plan helped athletes push beyond college and work toward the world stage. At the end of the day, it is one thing to win a national title or earn a degree, but it is an entirely different beast to make it to the Olympics.

“It’s just been that pursuit, and for athletes, that’s the mountain top,” August said.

August and Anthony had dual citizenship with Cabo Verde, a small island nation off the coast of Africa. Cabo Verde had not earned a medal in any sport in the Olympics. 

Anthony was planning to change that.

Anthony was the first wrestler representing Cabo Verde to compete at the African Championships and World Championships.

Anthony was also set to wrestle for Cabo Verde in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics thanks to his efforts at various international events. August was also selected to represent Cabo Verde alongside his son in the 2020 Olympics.

The duo had gone through the Olympic process and even received their credentials in the mail before bad news came. Due to COVID-19, the Olympics looked different than ever before.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Olympics cut out some wild card qualifiers, which happened to boot out Cabo Verde from competition. That meant Anthony could no longer compete in the 2020 Olympics.

While the news was heartbreaking, Anthony knew there was nothing that could be done. That chance was gone, so all he could do was work toward the next opportunity. 

Although Anthony now had to wait three years for his next shot at an Olympic Games, he knew patience would eventually pay off.

“I love to challenge myself,” Anthony said. “All of the international travel and competition has helped me become mentally tougher.”

Second time’s the charm

Since his close call with the 2020 Olympics, Anthony has not slowed down one bit. In fact, he has built himself into a world-class athlete.

Anthony has competed in various international events and seen success on many different stages. His efforts have already made him the most decorated wrestler in Cabo Verde history.

Anthony finished out 2021 wrestling in Bulgaria to pick up wins over wrestlers from Chili and Brazil. He also placed fifth in the Ibrahim Mustafa International, which took place in Egypt.

Anthony saw even more success in 2022 when he started his Olympic circuit. He competed in the African Championship and made it to the bronze-medal match. He then wrestled in the UWW World Championship, where he finished ranked No. 15 in the world, falling to the then-No. 5 wrestler.

Again in 2023, Anthony wrestled his way to the bronze-medal match at the African Championship in Tunisia. He also picked up two gold medals in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling when he took the stage in Pretoria, South Africa.

Along the way, Anthony competed in beach wrestling, a sport headed to the Olympics in 2028, as another way to sharpen his skills to make it to the Olympics.

He wrestled in the African Beach Championship and placed seventh, which qualified him for the Continental Beach Games in Hammamet, Tunisia.

Throughout his time on the world stage, Anthony has advanced to the semi-finals five times in various events and picked up two international gold medals.

Anthony’s father has seen him work constantly through good and bad times to reach his goals. Not only that, August has been Anthony’s coach along the way.

“As a father, I am filled with pride,” August said. “I watch him make sacrifices and challenge himself day in and day out.”

Anthony again made it to the UWW World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, which acts as the first leg of the Olympic Qualification process for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Anthony finished the event falling to the No. 7 wrestler in the world. Although it was not the outcome he hoped for, it gave him even more experience against highly talented athletes.

The tournament was not all too bad for Anthony, as he ran into an old friend and mentor. Jackson was attending the tournament in Serbia as well, but the last thing he was expecting to see was Anthony competing.

It had been years since the two had seen each other. So as Jackson was standing across the venue, he had to double-take when he saw who he thought was Anthony.

“I was looking at him from afar and I’m like, ‘That looks just like a kid I used to train,’” Jackson said.

As Jackson walked up to Anthony, the two were excited to be reunited. As Anthony saw Jackson, his face filled with pure joy.

The two embraced in a welcoming hug and talked about Anthony’s journey and how he never gave up on his dream to compete on the world stage.

“It was a surprise, but it was also really fun and exhilarating to see him at that level competing,” Jackson said. 

Although it was a surprise for Jackson to see Anthony in Serbia, it did not come as a surprise that Anthony was still competing at a high level. Jackson said that Anthony “would never take no for an answer,” so giving up was not in his wheelhouse.

That will to keep pushing is what helped Anthony find success at the international level and will help keep his head up going forward.

“I believe the future holds opportunity for me to grow as a person and an athlete,” Anthony said.

Anthony will compete in the African Olympic qualifier next, where he has a good shot to finish near the top. That tournament will be the final step to getting a spot in the 2024 Olympics.

With August behind Anthony coaching him every single day, Anthony is in the best position to achieve his goals. August makes sure that Anthony’s schedule is competitive and will push him to keep getting better and wrestle at an Olympic level.

Anthony has set the standard for wrestlers to come out of Cabo Verde. The future is bright because of Anthony.

Anthony showed that he embodied the words, “make it happen,” throughout his entire wrestling career. From his early days of middle school and high school success to overcoming a tough injury in college, Anthony has made it happen on the world stage.

Anthony has the passion for the sport that all great wrestlers have. With that passion and his motto driving him forward, anything is possible. 

“He wasn’t the highest-ranked athlete coming into Iowa State. He didn’t have the most credentials,” Jackson said. “But he did have the most passion.”