Wrestling Blogs - Ben Askren

In the process of watching the Reno Tournament of Champions I started thinking about a new concept of winning wrestlers. I always hear “this person” needs more technique, strength, speed, or etc. the list could really go on forever. As I am watching match after match of unmotivated apathetic competitor* I started thinking about what made me successful. The one thought that kept coming back to my head was effort, and when I was watching matches I didn’t see one match where I thought ‘damn that guy really gave everything he had.’ The kind of feeling I get when I… more »

I know what a title, everyone has heard this, but what does it really mean. So for todays blog I will delve into why I think that Iowa under Gable was so succesful. This has been one of my favorite questions to ask old timers for a while, as an aspiring coach I like to look at who did it best figure how they did it and then try to do it again. I have gotten a great myriad of answers for this question, ranging from the normal to the extra crazy and believe me everyone has their own opinion… more »

This is a shout out and a thank you to all of those wrestlers who put it on the line. To me the worst paradox is when I hear a wrestler or coach who complain about how no one wants to watch wrestling, then go out a wrestle a 3-2 boring match that puts even the biggest wrestling fans to sleep. So here is a big thanks to all the wrestlers who make it exciting for me to watch. Thanks to Jake Herbert for having that intense stare in his eye before the match it got me so pumped up… more »

So what is the wrost call in wrestling? It is the potentially dangerous call made by an official, it is so overused that it makes me sick. Every tough wrestler knows he doesn't have to go over to his back because if it looks like it hurts bad enough the ref will stop it. Now I am all for protecting kids, but when you get to the college level you should have already have learned to protect yourself. I vote to outlaw the potentially dangerous call from college wrestling. It is used in the right context less than 1% of… more »

I really liked the feedback I got last week on the Talent blog, so I will write another blog about the thoughts I have. This week will write about my thoughts on why weight cutting became so popular in the sport of wrestling. First here are two thoughts that you must accept as truths or my argument won't make any sense. 1. A wrestler has to wrestle the correct weight class for himself to reach his fullest potential. 2. The toughest (mentally) guy wins the match when most everything else is equal. So here we go, try to follow along.… more »

So I had a little thought about the way the wrestling community thinks about talent and I wanted to what all the flo fans thoughts about it. Now when someone says an athlete is talented what comes to mind? I bet most of you thought of someone who was built like a greek god, very fast and agile. Well I think talent should be defined by the sport you play. So a talented basketball player would have height, jumping ability and hand eye coordination, Football would be size and speed. Well wrestling varies greatly, because while strength and speed are… more »

Dec 25 Happy holidays everybody, I am just getting home to Columbia, MO. The team had a really good practice today and last night getting ready for the Midlands, I am very excited because the midlands is so tough this year, but I really think the Tigers are ready to break out, only a few days and we will know. I also had a really good training camp in Florida, learning how to fight. It has been a lot of fun so far and I have my first fight on Feb.7 right here at home in Columbia, MO and I… more »

Well I figured I would wrap up the whole experience, even though I havent wanted to think about it much lately. Then tell you where the future is going to take me. So I lost, I didnt live up to the guarentees I put forth. I have to keep being reminded that making the Olympics in the first place is a great accomplishment. It isn't the first time I haven't lived up to a guarantee I put out and it probably wont be the last. When asked a question I will tell you exactly what I think without pulling any… more »

Days are getting boring, competitions coming near I can see myself getting skinnier when I look in the mirror When I step on the mat August 20 I'll be ready to scrap And it will be the last feather I need to put in my cap. more »

So I am very happy because I woke up to the second day of Blue skies in a row, it looks like China's plan to clear the skies is working at least for now. ALso my parents and my high school coach get in tonight so I am excited for that. Yesterday was a good day, since I am only doing one practice a day now I am really getting to sleep in which is nice. I went and worked out with Max and did a quick Sauna. After that Max, Steele, Shawn, Amy and I took off for the… more »

Ok just two quick thoughts for my blog today. 1- They have these things over here called squatters, they are holes in the ground used as toilets, they really gross me out. I had to take my first duker on one the other day, because I couldn't find anything else. It really felt like a violation of my humanity, and I couldn't figure out how old people could manage, it was a challenge to me and I am a young healthy man. 2- The most fun part about Beijing may be the cab driving, it is so cheap and there… more »

A few for my thoughts for you before I start my blog -Women in the olympic have great legs -Sometimes you wil be walking around Beijing and it will just start stinking for no good reason -Taxis are so cheap, I dont think I have paid more than four american dollars for a ride anywhere -The chinese Language is very tough to read and speak Ok so today we went to the great wall and it is just mind boggling just to think of the time and effort put into that wall. It was very scenic but thegreat that view… more »

So this morning I woke up to a huge surprise, I saw the first blue skies since I got here, now they are just faintly visible, but at this point any blue skies will make me happy. After rain the last two days the temperature has gone way down also it is awesome. SO yesterday we worked out twice, a hard practice in the mornign then in the afternoon I just drilled with Max. I also made another sweet purschase yesterday, it was a bicycle. Everything in the village is so far apart and I have been etremely jealous of… more »

I feel like such a dork because I wrote just short of 12 horus ago, but I had a rather exciting day and figured I would be busy tomorrow and I am bored now so why not write. Today after my morning wrestling with Max a big group of us headed to the silk market, I havent had so much fun in a long time. I got an Armani suit for $27 and Tru religion jeans for $19 (don't worry people I realize these may be knock offs.) I am really hoping Martin posts video of this which he took… more »

8:30 AM Beijing time (Sun) 7:30 PM CST (Sat) I really feel the need to redeem myself after yesterdays blog, because it was that bad. I just read it again this morning and I cant believe I even wrote it, just terrible. Yesterday morning everybody woke up late, we were supposed to have an 8:30 work out, but due to not getting back from opening ceremonies until 2:00am the previous night, we smartly pushed it back until the afternoon. When I woke up I felt like a truck hit me, my body doesn't take well to standing and especially not… more »

Last night was opening ceremonies, and it is supposed to be an amazingnight, but I am not going to lie to you I didnt have a good time. Iwas hot, sweaty, tired and hungry. The heat was unbearable everyamerican athlete was drenched in sweat. Now dont get me wrong therewere some high points to the night, I asked Jenna Bush to take mypicture not knowing who she was. She did so very well, then everyoneon the team made fun of me. Daniel was getting his pictuer taken withevery basketball player in sight. We didnt get to see the fireworkswhich I… more »

8:30am China Time ????? Central standard time So here I am sitting in an internet cafe before we have our first practice of the day. Being overseas does something strange to me, I am always able to wake up early. In the states I can never get up before 10am and be happy about it. But on the Russia trip I was up at 6am everyday and likewise I woke up at 6:30am today and felt good. The trip went very smoothly due to the fact that I can sleep well on planes, I slept almost 7 or the 11.5… more »

So here I am in my dorm room at San Jose St., we leave tomorrow from San Fran for Beijing on a direct 13 hour flight. I will be keeping you updated throughout all 20 days of my olympic experience, I will do my best to give you the full un cut version of what goes on behind the scenes at the olympic games. Now while they have already given us a full set of instructions on what not to do in our blogs I will do my best to give you the full experience. So yesterday morning, Monday August… more »

We are running down to the end of our second training camp, but it is still hard to fathom that I will be in Beijing in less than ten days. I think it is all going to hit me like a ton of bricks really soon. I feel like I am very prepared to wrestle anybody in the world, Coach Mesenbrink has been doing some very good scouting for me and I realize that everyone in the world has weaknesses and I just have to exploit them. Training has been going very well with the exception on some minor nagging… more »

So I find my self sitting in Denver International Airport with some extra time to burn, since getting rerouted from Fargo to Philly. My life has been pretty crazy the last few days since the trials ended. Of course I couldn't ask for more, I achieved a life long dream and my family and friends have been so supportive. As a wrestling fan the 2008 trials was the most exciting trials since 2000 ( i have watched all nine of them and competed in 6), there were many upset and epic battles to watch. Since then I have been back… more »

There has been a lot of talk on how to save college wrestling, here is my overall synopsis on the situation. Of course it will take a lot my than talk to get the job done, but to get somewhere we have to know where we want to go first. Here is a clear and distinct list of things needed to do to complete this process.

1. Start a national wrestling endowment
2. Keep fighting the title IX battle
3. Build college wrestling at lowers levels (specifically NAIA and NWCA)
4. Keep women’s wrestling… more »

Well I haven't posted since my trip to Russia so you guys have probably been wondering what I have been up to. Well besides a trip to the NCAA tournament in St. Louis, which in my opinion is the great wrestling tournament in the world and if you haven't gone you need to, I have been leading a very boring and monotonous life. I wake up, work out, make myself some lunch then usually work out again. Wrestling is the one sole focus in my life. Last June after a very poor performance at the WTT I had decisions to… more »

Wednesday 9:22am Moscow time 12:22 am Missouri time
Well I am back in Moscow and got get on the internet for a while and posted my first part of the blog on flowrestling.com. I could do without a lot of modern amenities, it doesn’t bother me that I haven’t been able to use my phone or the tv, but the lack of internet use really make me feel disconnected to the outside world. Also my lack of the Russian language is continuing to plague me, our translator got a sauna reserved for Jared and I this morning at 8.… more »

From Russia With Love- My first journey to the motherland

10:55PM-Vladikavkaz time 1:55PM Missouri time Feb 14th

Like many of my trips this one started with the veritable planes, trains and automobiles. I woke up at eight, stopped for a red bull and headed to St. Louis. I parked at the Bus Stop and John took a few minutes off work to give me a ride to the airport. I don’t remember any of my flight to New York, I slept the whole time. The walk from the my gate to the other… more »

Hello again everyone, it has been quite a while since you have heard from me. So I thought maybe as my present to you I would give you a little insight into whats going on in my life. I have had a great fall, it has been both productive and entertaining. I have gotten to compete a lot, travel and make many new friends. Right now as I write this blog I am sitting in Keith Gavin's living room. I have been in Pittsburgh the last six days training with Keith and Jake Herbert. I have gotten in a lot… more »

So I figured it was about time for another blog post. I have been on the road for a while now, almost as much as that crazy road warrior Martin, only problem is I don't have a really sweet van to sleep in. I started off my trip by going to Phoenix for the Sunkist kids open. It was nice to get to some warm weather, the tournament was so-so I had some good matches and some bad matches. I really felt my new style was coming into play which is good, it is the direction I need to move.… more »

I am getting exctied because I finally get to compete really soon. In less than two weeks I get to go wrestle in teh Sunkist Open, then the week after will be the Clansmen invite in Vancouver. Then staying at the Olympic training center for a week. Then the next weekend is the NYAC. Lots of matches in a short amount of time, but I finally get to try out everything I have been working on since I started wrestling freestyle again and see if it is going to work. I often hear that my style of wrestling will not… more »

This could be my favorite time of year. College is just starting up I made it back to Columbia and th ewhoel team is here. I am so close with all the guys on the team it feels like a family reunion that is going to last for the next nine months. There are a lot of changes in Columbia this fall though, too many people gone. Matt Pell(Virginia) and Bart Horton(Air Froce) said their goodbyes within the last month, it hurts losing these two because they have been mainstays in my training and as friends for the last five… more »

I was almost finished writing this and the computer crashed so I will try again. I am sitting at the OTC and just finished watching the Gallick-Zadick wrestle off. It has motivated me to write about something I already had the idea to write about. It is wrestling's self esteem problem. Lets start with freestyle the new rules are crap, I have not talked to one senior level freestyle wrestler that likes the new rules. When a ref and a coin flip often determine the winner of a match, then something is fundamentally wrong with our great sport. No other… more »

Martin recently called me about doing a blog for flowrestling.com, being a huge fan of flocasts and Martin naturally I obliged. I have been without internet for days as I was working Steve Glassy's Camp of Champions in Alaska. So as I sit here in the Seattle airport on the cold tile at 12:30am, I don't really have any idea what day it is, I will give you my innermost thoughts. My very busy summer camp season is rapidly coming to a close. I finished my last session earlier today in Alaska, and started my long trek home. First a… more »