PITTSBURGH – The warrior turned philosopher for a moment.

“It’s just meant to be this way,” Nick Suriano said, cradling his national championship trophy as he leaned up against the arena corridor wall. “That’s what I really feel. We both had to wait our turn.”

This is how it had to end.

The road was winding, full of unexpected bumps and unforeseen swerves. But the ultimate destination?

In hindsight, it was destined to be.

The once-in-a-lifetime collegiate pairing of mat-crazed New Jersey’s tallest titans has concluded atop the podium at the NCAA Championships.

Anthony Ashnault is a national champion. So is Suriano. The Scarlet Knights are in the Top 10.

The once-floundering program that was once in danger of extinction and was still competing in the College Ave. Gym during this decade has reached its final breakthrough moment.

Welcome to the greatest night in Rutgers wrestling history.

“It’s about a system, it’s about a belief, it’s about being surrounded by great people. I was tired, to be honest with you,” head coach Scott Goodale said, his vision having come to fruition here on the grandest stage as he was named the national tournament coach of the year.

“I was tired of hearing you had to go to Penn State to become a national champion, you had to go to Iowa, you had to go to Oklahoma State. You can do it at Rutgers. You can do it here. You can do anything here. You can win national titles here.

“I knew this day was going to come. I knew it was coming. And here we are, we’re here tonight. And it took a couple of really special dudes to get it done.”

Suriano was the Garden State’s second four-time undefeated state champion to Ashnault, but he will be remembered as the Scarlet Knights’ first national champion. The Bergen Catholic product notched a decisive takedown of Oklahoma State’s Daton Fix in the second sudden victory period of a wild 133-pound final to seal a 4-2 win, capping a sensational postseason run that finally returns him to the top.

Suriano did not compete at the national tournament as a Penn State freshman, a broken ankle ending his season. Then after a contentious, controversial transfer and Big Ten waiver process brought him to Rutgers, disaster struck last season – a staph infection that required a week’s hospital stay and robbed him of almost the entire dual meet season.

Suriano would somewhat improbably return for the postseason and get all the way to the national 125-pound final, only to run out of gas and fall to now-two-time national champion Spencer Lee of Iowa.

A move up to 133 pounds helped Suriano keep his health this entire season, but three regular season losses – to Iowa’s Austin DeSanto, Michigan’s Stevan Micic and Fix – left many doubting he was capable of winning a title at his new weight.

Until the revenge tour began.

Suriano beat DeSanto in the Big Ten Championships semifinal round en route to a conference title. He beat Micic in the national semifinal. And then he completed the trifecta and downed Fix, proving that, yes, he can win a national title from somewhere else than Happy Valley.

“I didn’t quit. That’s my message to all the youth: Don’t quit,” said Suriano, who survived two failed Oklahoma State-initiated video reviews and a stall point and notched a do-or-die last-second escape in the second rideout en route to his win.

“I’ve been on the ups, the undefeated thing, Penn State, the waves, the ride. And then I’ve been on the downs. I made a move and everyone said, ‘Oh, Rutgers, you can’t do this. You’re not going to do that. You’ll never win.’

“I got messages on my social media that I’d never win because I left Penn State. And it’s nothing against Penn State. It’s great. They’re doing their thing, and I’m doing mine. This means so much to me, my family, and hopefully Rutgers that I got the job done. ... It’s just a blessing. It’s amazing.”

Then it was Ashnault’s time. He is the greatest wrestler in Rutgers history – the first four-time All-American and three-time Big Ten champion, the wins leader, the face of the program. But one thing has haunted the South Plainfield product at this level: The pursuit of an NCAA crown.

He’d been to the national semifinals twice and lost. That changed on Friday night when he vanquished Princeton rival Matt Kolodzik one last time in the semis, getting to center mat at long last. But a tricky matchup awaited in Ohio State’s Micah Jordan.

Sure, Ashnault had already beaten the Buckeye in two title bouts this season - in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational final in December, and then again two weeks at the Big Ten meet – and was clearly the superior wrestler.

But you only need to be better once at the right time in this sport. And when a hands-to-the-face call went against Ashnault in the first period, that could have given Jordan his opening for an upset. But Ashnault wouldn’t let that happen. He regained control with a takedown early in the second period and then continued his tournament tear on top, racking up 1:43 of riding time entering the final period.

Jordan would give Ashnault a neutral point to begin the third, then another after a takedown. Ashnault then picked up a takedown and two near fall points to put the 9-4 win on ice as the sixth year he received after missing all of last season due to knee and shoulder surgeries paid off.

“It’s everything that I've worked for up to this point. I try not to idolize wrestling, but a big part of my life was focused on getting a national title,” he said. “I can't put it into words right now, but I'm just excited. I just want to go hug my family and be with them and just bask in it for a little bit.”

He can go much longer than that if he wants. Everyone else at Rutgers certainly will.

“You keep working and working and working. And then that moment arrives, and it is euphoric for all us,” athletics director Pat Hobbs said moments after he broke away from an embrace with Goodale and deputy athletics director Sarah Baumgartner. “This is just an amazing day for Rutgers University. We have national champions. We are Rutgers University, we have national championships, and we’re not done.

“This is a tipping point. This is a sign of what’s coming for us. We’re going to continue to invest and do what we need to do. And we’re going to shock everybody. We’re writing the great chapter, and tonight was a very important night in that great chapter. … It is a night of euphoria for Rutgers University.”

Extraordinary circumstances brought them together for one year, one chance.

And they did it.

“They’re not just national champions,” Hobbs said. “Tonight, they became legends.”

James Kratch may be reached at jkratch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JamesKratch. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.