TOMS RIVER -- As he enters the final stretch of his training for an interim-title shot, Frankie Edgar's weekly regimen is scripted for every challenge he may face against Jose Aldo in the July 9th UFC 200 bout.

Edgar trains six days a week near his Toms River home, working out 2-to-3 times a day in sessions ranging from one hour to 2 1/2 hours per clip.

Mondays and Thursdays include Muay Thai, Tuesdays and Friday feature mitt training, Fridays consist of Jiu-Jitsu and mixed martial arts and boxing sparring is sprinkled in with strength and conditioning training throughout the week.

"And,'' he said, "there's wrestling on Wednesday mornings.''

A standout wrestler at Toms River High School East in the late 1990s, Edgar had his choice of people willing to grapple with him on the mat. He chose a two-time collegiate All-American who tips the scales at roughly his same 145-pound weight.

"Anthony Ashnault is absolutely one of the best wrestlers in the country,'' Edgar said of Rutgers University's rising fourth-year junior wrestling star. "He's 20 years old and to have a kid who's hungry and still wants to scrap with me, I'm not going to get anything better than that. I know some guys might get an older coach, but he still has goals, he's still trying to attain them, and I can feed off that. He's a young kid and I have to feed off that energy level, so it's perfect for me.''

For approximately 1 1/2 hours each Wednesday, Edgar and Ashnault trade blows on a wrestling mat. Inside a room in the back of a pool store in Toms River, Edgar, 34, preps for his five-round duel with Aldo by squaring off against the nation's fourth best 141-pound wrestler.

"This is becoming one of my favorite workouts of the week,'' Edgar said following what he called "a short but intense'' 1 hour, 15-minute session with Ashnault.

"I grew up wrestling. The wrestling grind is very unique. Sparring is maybe the hardest workout of the week just because you're getting punched, but wrestling, just the grind of it, is something different. It's nonstop, trying to break your opponent and he's trying to break you. It's what brought me into this world.''

For Ashnault, the opportunity to compete against one of the most accomplished mixed martial artists, he said, speaks for itself.

"For me, it's like I'm training with another All-American,'' Ashnault said. "If you put him in our Rutgers wrestling room, he would definitely be the best guy and the one working the hardest. Why not come wrestle with him?''

The wrestling room is nondescript, featuring a single mat. Hanging from the wall is a Rutgers Wrestling sign, a Frankie Edgar billboard with Fe in the center (a nod to the symbol on the periodic table, which represents iron), and an Elite Wrestling poster.

On this day, the virtual sweatshop features a host of UFC fighters, including Edson Barboza, Frankie Perez, Corey Anderson and Marlon Moraes. Ashnault arrived just after 10 a.m., wearing a Rutgers "Jersey strong'' t-shirt and, after a few friendly greetings, he strolled to the center of the circle.

With rap music blaring in the background, the youngest person on the mat barked instruction to the 16 participants in the workout. Ashnault yelled "start it up!'' before leading a jog around the circle.

"If the fight was tomorrow I'd be ready to go,'' Edgar said. "Everybody talks about the peaking thing, you don't want to over-train. But I train hard. I really don't cut weight so I don't have to worry about breaking myself down too much as most guys do. I feel great. I'm going to show up and be ready July 9th.''

Ashnault, who plans to travel to Las Vegas to watch Edgar fight, takes pride in helping one of UFC's legendary fighters prep for a title bout.

"I feel like a little part of the family,'' he said. "I know there's a lot of people that go into making sure he performs at his best. If I'm even 1 percent part of his success, it's awesome and it feels really good to be a part of it.''

Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.