Who wants to go on the mat with “This Guy?” For Arrowhead High School, Ben Askren was a two-time Wisconsin State Wrestling Champion (2001, 2002) and a three-time high school All-American (2000-2002). During his senior year, he won the 2002 Junior National Tournament, was runner-up at the High School Nationals and was fourth in the FILA Junior Freestyle Nationals.
When former coach John Mesenbrink talks about Ben and his role at AHS: “He helped establish the tradition, the culture of the program and was kind of the main leader there. Without him, things wouldn’t have turned out the way they did.”
After AHS, Ben put together an impressive collegiate wrestling career at the University of Missouri, advancing to the finals in his 174-pound weight class four times and winning the national title twice. He was crowned an All-American four times and the Big XII Champion three times. His final two seasons, Ben went undefeated at Missouri, winning 87 matches in a row (that ranks among the Top 10 All-Time in NCAA history). Additional collegiate honors include:
- W.I.N. Magazine’s Dan Hodge Award Winner – given to the top collegiate wrestler
- Two-time Schalles Award Winner – NCAA’s best pinner
- Outstanding Wrestler award at the 2006 NCAA Championships
- Completed his career with a record of 153-7
- Four Academic All-Big XII honors
After graduating from college, Ben began his coaching career and also continued honing his own wrestling skills. He earned a spot on the TEAM USA wrestling roster and a trip to the Beijing Olympics where he competed at the 74-kg (163.14 pounds) weight class. In 2016, Ben was inducted into the Wisconsin Wrestling Coaches Association - George martin Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Today, Ben is a Bellator Welterweight World Champion and a ONE Welterweight Champion, plus the assistant coach of the Askren Wrestling Academy and the camp director of the Askren Wrestling Academy (AWA) Camps. Ben teaches the unique AWA Pillars, which includes a focus of long-term success through “total wrestling,” fundamentals and experimentation.