Missouri News and Notes
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Missouri Hall of Fame Induction of Ben Askren Dear MU Wrestling Supporter:
As a loyal supporter of the University of Missouri’s Wrestling program, we would like for you to be our guest at the twenty-second annual Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, as we look forward to inducting former MU Great Ben Askren.
The Ceremony will be held on Friday, February 10, 2012, at the Courtyard Marriot in Columbia, MO. There will be a reception at 6:00 p.m., with the dinner and awards ceremony beginning at 7:00 p.m.
This year we are proud to induct six distinguished individuals to the Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame. The recipients are:
Ben Askren – Wrestling Don Chadwick – Football Tom Heckman – Baseball Max Scherzer– Baseball Russ Sloan – Football George Williams – Basketball (posthumously)
If you would like to purchase tickets and be a part of Askren’s prestigious recognition the cost of a ticket is $45.00. Please contact Nico Yantko at yantkon@missouri.edu no later than February 3rd, 2012 to make your reservation.
Thank you for all that you have done for Mizzou and we hope that you are able to join us for this special evening. Go Tigers!
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Missouri's Askren
captures Hodge Trophy Bryan Van Kley Wrestling International Newsmagazine 03/27/2006  The most
anticipated finals match-up of the Division I Championships resulted in
a 14-2 blow-out. Missouri’s top-ranked Ben Askren dominated undefeated
Jake Herbert (No. 2 seed) of Northwestern. For his efforts, Askren was
named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler and now has added
wrestling’s top individual prize to his trophy case: the 2006 Dan Hodge
Trophy. Wrestling’s version of the Heisman Trophy is awarded annually to the most dominant collegiate wrestler by the International Wrestling Institute & Museum and W.I.N. Magazine. The 174-pounder finished the season 45-0 with an impressive 25 pins. Of the other 20 wins, Askren had nine technical falls, five majors, an injury default and a forfeit, leaving only four bouts in which he failed to score bonus points. In addition to his convincing 12-point victory in the NCAA finals, he also defeated Lehigh’s Travis Frick (19-3) and Hofstra’s Michael Patrovich (21-6) in the quarters and semis, respectively. “It’s a great honor to win the award, because of Dan Hodge and all the other great wrestlers that have won it,” Askren said. “It’s been a goal of mine to not only be the best in my weight class, but the best in any weight class, period.” Criteria for the award include: record, number of pins, dominance, past credentials, quality of competition, sportsmanship/citizenship and heart. Other finalists for the award were four-time Div. II national champion Les Sigman of the University of Nebraska-Omaha, Iowa State’s Nate Gallick, Minnesota’s Cole Konrad and Boise State’s Ben Cherrington. Sigman, who was wrestling unattached the first semester, was 43-0 with 19 pins. Gallick, who beat defending national champ Teyon Ware four times, was 36-0 with two falls. Konrad was 39-0 with 14 pins, downing defending titlist Steve Mocco four times. Cherrington finished his senior campaign 20-0 with three pins. Missouri head coach Brian Smith said fans won’t find a more worthy recipient than his national champion junior. “I’ve never been around anybody like him,” Smith said of his team captain. “I think he’s going to be the new torch-holder for our sport. I knew that when I recruited him.” Anyone who’s around Askren can tell immediately the Tiger junior doesn’t fit the typical mold of a wrestler or an average college student for that matter. Not having cut his hair in two years, Askren competes with a huge afro hair style which comes out of the straps of his headgear in every direction. And don’t expect many typical 3-2 decisions from Askren either. He revels in the chance to entertain fans and put on a show. “A lot of people complain about wrestling’s (media) coverage. Then they go out and take one or two shots in seven minutes. I hate when people do that. A decision is not satisfactory in my books. The ultimate goal is to pin someone. That’s what I go after every match,” the three-time finalist said. The wrestling community often describes Askren as unorthodox. He’s perfectly fine with that. He’s also widely known as the best scrambler in the college wrestling. But Smith warned not to mistake Askren’s style for a lack of technique. “If you sat down with Ben, he’d teach you the eight stages of funk,” Smith said. The Tigers’ head man also stressed his star pupil is a tireless student of the sport, studying films on various Russian and other international wrestlers to pick up new techniques. And to go along with the long hours studying the sport, Smith said Askren has an incredibly good work ethic and a happy-go-lucky attitude. Minutes before his finals match, ESPN showed a clip of Hodge crushing an apple with his hand. Smith had to remind his finalist to stay focused as Askren was laughing watching the television in the tunnel saying how cool that was. During a break in the action in the finals, Askren heard the Ford Center crowd cheering. Television cameras then caught him trying to get a peak at the screen on the main scoreboard above him to see what had gotten everyone’s attention. He found out later that ESPN had found a few of his friends in the stands who had on colored afro wigs to show their support. The two-time Wisconsin state champ said he always had short hair in high school. Once it started growing out in college, people started giving him a hard time, saying wrestlers shouldn’t do that. Askren set out to prove to people you could have fun in the sport and still be successful. “People were saying wrestlers aren’t suppose to have goofy hair and you’re supposed to be serious. I enjoy bugging people a little bit and getting under their skin. So I let it grow,” he said. Askren had his locks cut with dozens of onlookers watching on March 23. Smith noted an autographed photo of the boxer Muhammed Ali in the Askrens’ basement while on a recruiting trip to their Hartland, Wisc. home. Askren informed Smith that Ali was one of his heroes. He now tries to emulate the manner in which Ali carried himself, taking seriously the responsibility of an athlete to entertain the fans. Askren also added that he wanted to just be himself in front of media, not just telling reporters what they want to hear like so many athletes do. “If he wasn’t such a hard worker and wasn’t doing so well in the classroom, I’d say, ‘Hey, you can’t talk like that,’ ” Smith said. “But that’s Ben.” Askren excels off the mat as well. The geography major carries a 3.2 GPA and was named an academic All-American his first two years. He also volunteers to read to grade school kids and “absolutely loves it,” said Smith. Smith said don’t be surprised if you see Askren, who won the Pam Ams this summer, making a U.S. World Team very soon. “He’s going to make an Olympic team,” Smith said, when asked how far the Dan Hodge Trophy winner could go. “Once he gets that, I think he’s going to get a gold medal. That’s a goal of his and he’s achieved everything he’s gone after. He finds a way to get better every day.” The award will be officially presented to Askren, April 22, at the team’s wrestling banquet and publicly next fall at one of the home football games. http://www.themat.com/index.php?page=showarticle&ArticleID=14309
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January 10, 2004 |
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Missouri Undefeated at Sun Devil Duals 1/5/2004 8:19:00 AM Burleson Earns Win Number 100, Reese Leads Missouri in Career-Falls From Emily Gatewood, Mizzou Sports Information Tempe, Ariz. - Walking into the sunset with a 5-0 season dual record, the eighth-ranked Missouri wrestling team defeated No. 16 West Virginia (22-15), No. 18 Cal-Poly (37-6) and non-ranked American University (51-3) at the Sun Devil Duals in Tempe, Ariz (Wells Fargo Arena). Along the way, senior captain Kenny Burleson of Neosho, Mo., landed win number 100, making him only the ninth Tiger in Missouri wrestling history to hit the century mark (101-31), while senior J.P. Reese found his 42nd career-pin, to top the Missouri all-time falls chart. With a 7-4 decision over No. 9 Matt Lebe of West Virginia, sixth-ranked Burleson scored his 100th win, and now stands in the company of greatness. The first Tiger to take 100 wins since John Kopnisky (1997-2002), Burleson is on track to finish the season among the top-five Missouri wrestlers with wins over 100. Wes Roper (1978-82) holds the most wins by any MU wrestler at 131. Burleson is the first Tiger with 100 wins that weighs 157 pounds. Also etching his name in the Mizzou history books was Reese. Wrestling at 141-pounds, Reese dropped Daniel Lobsenz of American in 32 seconds and Steve Esparza of Cal-Poly in 2:40. The two falls brought Reese's total to 42, putting him ahead of recent graduate Kevin Herron (HWT, 41). To date, Reese has recorded 10 pins on the season, eight shy of Herron's season-setting high 18 (2002-03). The Missouri wrestling team opened its day at 11 a.m. CT against American University. With a final score of 51-3, the Tigers won nine of their matches, five coming with falls, one by decision and three by forfeits. The day continued for the Tigers at 2:30 p.m. CT as they paired with No. 16 West Virginia. Starting at 184-pounds the Mountaineers jumped out to an early lead with No. 2 Greg Jones defeating junior J.C. Russell with a fall in 3:44. Sophomore Jeff Foust (No. 20) brought the Tigers within three points earning a 4-1 decision over Ryan Wilman at 197-pounds, but heavyweight senior Mike Whitehead (No. 11) suffered a disappointing 4-2 decision to No. 7 Brent Miller. Sophomore Austin DeVoe's (125) 4-1 decision, combined with a four match winning streak at 149-, 157-, 165- and 174-pounds, helped Missouri regain control of the board and take the 22-15 win. In the final dual of the day, No. 8 Missouri met with No. 18 Cal-Poly for the second time in school history. Competing one year to the day of their last matchup (Jan. 4, 2003-Lonestar Duals), Missouri took a 37-6 win and increased its lead to 2-0 over the Mustangs. One of the biggest wins of the dual came at 133-pounds as junior transfer sixth-ranked Paul Collum challenged No. 9 Darrell Vaszuez and won with a fall in 2:41. "We wrestled our best against Cal-Poly today," head coach Brian Smith said. "We had four pins, and Paul (Collum) dropped top-ranked Darrell Vasquez. The performance was much better than what we had seen in our first and then final match of the day." The Tigers will travel to Chattanooga, Tenn., for a three-way meet against Tennessee Chattanooga, and Ohio State on Sunday, Jan. 10, 2004. "The tough weeks that we have ahead will really tell us where the team stands," Smith said. "If we are truly interested in vying for a national championship come March, we can't afford to make some of the mistakes that we made today. Fortunately, we're able to walk away from today's duals with a better understanding of what we need to work on back in the practice room." Missouri over American: 51-3 184-Daniel Waters (American) over J.C. Russell (Missouri): 9-2, decision 197-Jeff Foust (Missouri) over Adam Montgomery (American)-Fall, 1:45 HWT-Mike Whitehead (Missouri) over Jared Hyman (American)-Fall, 2:55 125-Austin DeVoe (Missouri) over Matthew Pelligrino (American)-Fall, 3:22 133-Brett Watkins (Missouri) over Ben Lamson (American)-Fall, 1:55 141-J.P. Reese (Missouri) over Daniel Lobsenz (American)-Fall,:32 149-Cody Greene (Missouri) over Tom Kniewski (American)-10-7, decision 157-Kenny Burleson (Missouri)- Forfeit 165-Tyron Woodley (Missouri)-Forfeit 174-Ben Askren (Missouri)-Forfeit Missouri over West Virginia: 22-15 184-Greg Jones (WVU) over J.C. Russell (Missouri)-Fall, 3:44 197-Jeff Foust (Missouri) over Ryan Wilman (WVU)-4-1, decision HWT-Brent Miller (WV) over Mike Whitehead (Missouri)-4-2, decision 125-Austin DeVoe (Missouri) over Casey Brewster (WVU)-4-1, decision 133-Seth Lisa (WVU) over Paul Collum (Missouri)-5-3, decision 141-Joe Clarke (WVU) over J.P. Reese (Missouri)-6-3, decision 149-Jeremy Spates (Missouri) over Andrew Joseph (WVU)-10-1, major decision 157-Kenny Burleson (Missouri) over Matt Lebe (WVU)-7-4, decision 165-Tyron Woodley (Missouri) over Zack Fryling (WVU)-4-3, decision 174-Ben Askren (Missouri) over Douglas Studenik (WVU)-Fall, 1:52 Missouri over Cal Poly: 37-6 184-Ryan Halsey (CP) over J.C. Russell (Missouri)-8-2, decision 197- Jeff Foust (Missouri) over Ralph Garcia (CP)-Fall, 5:53 HWT- Mike Whitehead (Missouri) over Art Basulto (CP)-6-4, decision 125-Vic Moreno (CP) over Austin DeVoe (Missouri)-8-5, decision 133- Paul Collum (Missouri) over Darrell Vaszuez (CP)-Fall, 2:41 141-J.P. Reese (Missouri) over Steve Esparza (CP)-Fall, 2:40 149-Jeremy Spates (Missouri) over Matt Cox (CP)-10-2, major decision 157-Kenny Burleson (Missouri) over Keith Kroeger (CP), Fall-3:40 165-Tyron Woodley (Missouri) over Eric Shortenhaus (CP)-9-0, major decision 174- T.J. Hansen (Missouri) over Sam Temko (CP)-11-4, decision |
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