Askren, who is already the record-holder for falls in a season, set another Missouri record two weeks ago at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. He broke J.P. Reese's career pin record of 47 by recording three pins on his way to the title at 174 pounds. After last Sunday's 39-second pin over Charlie Clark of Ohio State, Askren now sits at 50 career pins.
RevWrestling.com's Andrew Hipps recently went one-on-one with Askren to talk about why he skipped the NWCA All-Star Classic, his rivalry with Chris Pendleton, his thoughts on a potential match-up with Iowa's Mark Perry, and his future in freestyle.
You wrestled in the NWCA All-Star Classic last season, but opted not to wrestle in it this season. Why not?
Askren: Last year, I really wanted to get a shot at Chris Pendleton again. With him, the more shots, the better. I skipped the Missouri Open last year. I wrestled in it this year. Plus, I mean, I didn't think it was necessary for me to wrestle Perry or Herbert because … I didn't think it was anything extraordinary to wrestle them. Whereas, Pendleton, I felt, was a level above and someone I needed to get a shot at.
You obviously have a unique, unconventional style of wrestling. Have you always enjoyed scrambling?
Askren: Yeah, I've always scrambled. It was sort of necessity because I'm not the quickest or strongest guy, so I had to do whatever I had to do to win.
You're 17-0 and have dominated everyone you've wrestled this season. What is the biggest difference in your wrestling from last season to this season?
Askren: I don't think there's a huge difference. I mean, I dominated a lot last year too. If anything, I worked on my penetration a lot. Better shots. I worked on stance and motion a lot because I think that's what Pendleton beat me with last year. Those are the main things I've worked on. Other than that, everything is either the same or has gotten more refined or better.
You're the career record holder for pins at Missouri … and recently recorded your 50th. Do you go out every match with the mindset that you want to pin your opponent? Or is it just something that kind of comes with your wrestling?
Askren: I try to go out there and pin him every time. I just try to get on top very fast and then lock up a cradle or a hammerlock, lock something really tight, and then go for the pin.
Is winning the Schalles Award (given annually to the nation's best pinner) important to you?
Askren: Yeah, I think I was a finalist my freshman year. Last year, I didn't even get nominated. I'm not sure why. It's not like I want to pin everyone so I can win that award. I want to pin everyone because I want to pin everyone. If I win that, then it's positive also.
Chris Pendleton and Ben AskrenAskren: Yeah, definitely. Last year, more than any other year, it was like, I want to win to win a national title, and if I'm going to win it, I'm going to have beat Pendleton because I knew no one else was going to beat him. He was a level or two above everyone else. It was definitely my focus. Another thing that he did that really helped me, and it's also John Smith, after every match, he made a new game plan. So we would wrestle one match, and I'd look at what I did wrong. And then I'd be like, I have to work on this. And then next match, he would do something different. I think I sort of helped him out, too, because I think I made him stay on his toes. In turn, that made him better as well. I think it made us both better. It made the rivalry really good.
A lot has been made of a potential match-up with Iowa's Mark Perry this season. You both have wide open styles and love to scramble. Here's a quote from Perry, "I'm not afraid to scramble with (Askren) if he wants to scramble. I feel that I'm a better scrambler than anybody. But I think we'll enjoy wrestling each other." Is that a match-up that you're looking forward to?
Askren: Yeah, if he's half as good as his talk is, he'll probably be in the national finals with me.
Your younger brother, Max, is off to a great start at Missouri. He won the Central Missouri State Open this season, which included a win over All-American Joel Flaggert of Oklahoma. What are your thoughts on the way he's wrestling so far in his redshirt season?
Askren: He's wrestling awesome. I'm really proud of how he's wrestling. It makes me happy when he does well because I know how hard he works. He deserves it. He's definitely helped me in the room too. He's a scrambler also. He gives me someone to scramble against. Against a lot of people, I can just do one thing in a scramble and win it. But he makes me go further than I have to. In turn, I make up new scrambles from that. He learns all of my scrambles and how to beat them, and then I have to learn how to beat that. So he helps me elevate my wrestling. He's my favorite person to drill with. I like to wrestle live with him too.
Ben AskrenAskren: I think I met him when I was a sophomore or junior in high school. He moved in and trained with me for quite a while during the summer of our senior year of high school. And then, of course, we have spent all of the time here together. It's our fourth year now. He's a good workout partner for me too.
The state of Wisconsin has produced a number of collegiate standouts in recent years. How would you rate the talent coming out of Wisconsin compared to other states at this point?
Askren: I think it came on right before I graduated from high school. I think it's tailing off right now. But I do camps there, and there's a really good middle school group right now that's going to be really, really tough when they get older.
Coming out of high school, in addition to being Wisconsin's top wrestler, you also had great national credentials. What schools showed the most interest? And how did you eventually decide on Missouri?
Askren: I took visits to Missouri, Wisconsin, Michigan, Edinboro, Northern Iowa, and Arizona State. I put it all down on a piece of paper. Between the school, the wrestling, the wrestlers, coaches, and facilities, I liked Missouri the best. I knew that it was a place where I could spend the next five years of my life and be happy.
Brian SmithAskren: I think he just knows what he wants. He wants to be good. That's pretty much the start of everything, knowing what you want. He's done a really good job of that here. I don't think we're done getting better yet. I think we still have a lot of good years ahead of us.
Last season, Missouri finished 11th at the NCAA Championships. How well do you think this year's team can perform at the NCAA Championships in Oklahoma City?
Askren: I think really well. I think we have big point scorers between me and Matt (Pell), which is a necessity at the NCAA Championships. We have two extra qualifiers this year, which is really going to help because we've had guys who were good enough to place being left home the last two years. So the extra qualifiers will really help us.
In freestyle, you have had a lot of success on the senior level. You won a Pan American Games gold medal last May. What are your short term freestyle goals? And what are your long term freestyle goals?
Askren: My short term and long term and long term goals are somewhat the same, being that the Olympics is only three years away now. That's really not that far away for me, I don't think. I would like to make the World Team. My goals are a world gold medal in 2007 and an Olympic gold medal in 2008.
Do you plan to compete quite a bit after the collegiate season ends?
Askren: I usually wrestle in like four or five competitions, but I think this year I'm probably only going to make it to the U.S. Open and the World Team Trials. And then the year after that, I'm probably going to drop to 163 most likely.
I get sort of fat during the summer because I eat whatever I want … and I'm not training as hard. I was training with the World Team this year. Guys like Mo Lawal are 210 and solid muscle. And I'm 195 and not very muscular. During the college season, I'm roughly around 180. Not much more, not much less. I don't think it's going to be that tough to eventually get down to 163.
Do you have aspirations of getting into coaching when your competitive career is over?
Askren: I know that I'm going to stick around and coach here until Max gets done. I know that I can push him. I know that he needs someone to push him daily in the room. Plus, I mean, I'd like to help out all of the guys on team. I also really like running camps. I do that in the summer. I think I'll definitely do that. I would like to get a job somewhere coaching in Division I.
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