Meet The Instructors
Anthony Cronce
Owner/Head Instructor - Krum Resident
Anthony began grappling at the age of five in New Jersey where he spent his childhood Wrestling every Winter. In High School, he spent two years as a Varsity member of the Blair Academy National Championship Wrestling Team and his last two years as a Varsity member of the Phillipsburg High School Wrestling Team winning one Group IV State Championship. After Highschool, he competed up to the NCAA Division I level at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania while completing his degree in Business and Engineering with a concentration in Entrepreneurship.
After completing college, Anthony spent some time away from grappling while focusing on developing his professional career in which he currently holds today as a Technical Sales Manager in the Renewable Energy Industry. In 2018, him and his wife, Samantha moved to Texas where they eventually ended up settling down in Krum with their son, Nico, who arrived in July 2020.
Anthony began training Jiu-Jitsu in 2015 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania under the instruction of Jared Weiner eventually moving through the colored belts and was promoted to Brown Belt in 2018. In December 2020, Anthony was awarded his Black Belt after winning the IBJJF Masters World Championship on the podium by his Professor, Fifth-Degree Black Belt and 11-Time World Champion, Rafael “Formiga” Barbosa. “Formiga” is still his coach and is the co-owner of the Double Five Affiliation located in Highland Village. His wife, Samantha, and son, Nico, also both train in the Jiu-Jitsu Program at Eclipse.
Anthony’s mission of Eclipse BJJ and Grappling Academy is to grow a Grappling Community in North Texas/Denton County that is not just about World-Class Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling, and Fitness instruction. It is about helping every person that comes through the academy or comes in contact with one of its members in being a better person to ourselves and others. He wants to show our students all of the benefits of the grappling arts that have personally helped him shape a balanced life and develop relationships that will last a lifetime.
At the Black Belt level, Anthony’s competition accomplishments include:
IBJJF No-Gi World Champion
2X IBJJF No-Gi Pan-American Champion
IBJJF No-Gi World Bronze Medalist
IBJJF Pan-American Bronze Medalist
#1 Ranked Grappler at Heavyweight (M2) in the 2023 and 2024 Seasons
Joao Matheus Assonitis
Instructor/Head Competiton Coach
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt
Joao is originally born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He started training Jiu-Jitsu at the age of 15 through his stepfather who is a Second-Degree Black Belt. At first Jiu-Jitsu was more of a hobby to Joao, but as time has progressed in his development, Joao found a passion in competition where he began compting in every event he could find in Brazil. As his focus on the sport sharpened, Joao also found the passion of teaching kids classes which was an opportunity offered to him at home in Brazil. Through Joao’s early development in his teenage years, he has taken to focusing further on his diet, fitness preparation and physical conditioning which has awarded him opportunities to become a well-known athlete in the global Jiu-Jitsu competition circuit.
At purple belt, Joao started to see more success given his discipline and dedication to preparation and has medaled at some of the Worlds’ most difficult competitions including the IBJJF Pan-American Championships (twice), Fight2Win, and the AJP UAE Grand Slam in Abu Dhabi.
When Joao was promoted to Brown Belt, he quickly rose to the top of the National No-Gi scene culminating in a Gold Medal in the Adult Middle Weight Division at the IBJJF No-Gi Pan-American Championships in August of 2023.
In December 2023, Joao was awarded his Black Belt at No-Gi Worlds after a successful Brown Belt career ending Brown Belt as the #1 Ranked Competitor in his weight class.
Joao’s mission at Eclipse Jiu-Jitsu is to make people feel happy on the mat as it is a place where students can alleviate stress before or after work/school, change students’ lives, and get people on the right path towards being more confident with themselves.
At the Black Belt level, Joao’s competition accomplishments include:
IBJJF No-Gi Pan-American Bronze Medalist
IBJJF American Nationals No-Gi Champion
2X IBJJF Dallas Open No-Gi Champion
Top 10 Ranking @ Lightweight Adult Black Belt in 2024 Season