Askrens win titles at Big 12 tourney
Published March 6, 2007
MU senior Ben Askren and redshirt freshman Max Askren are the only two brothers to win individual titles at the 2007 Big 12 Wrestling Championships.
Although in many sports, brother tandems are rare, in wrestling there are many brothers competing with each other. Many Big 12 teams feature brothers side-by-side.
Nebraska has three sets of brothers competing on its squad. The Oklahoma Sooners have twin brothers Chad and Kyle Terry competing on the team. Although Oklahoma State doesn't have any duos, freshman Jordan Frishkorn's older brother Daniel is a former Cowboy. At Iowa State, four Sanderson brothers are involved with the team and twins Trent and Travis Paulson compete.
Ben Askren said some family environments are better than others for producing wrestlers, and thus an ideal wrestling family would produce multiple talented wrestlers.
"I think wrestling is just a family sport," he said. "Wrestling has a lot of mental aspects to it, and when you are raised in the same household, you have the same mental outlook on life a lot of the time. The toughness is taught in the household."
Iowa State coach Cael Sanderson said once one of his brothers decided to wrestle, the desire for the sport becomes contagious. He said some families go on vacations together, but others encourage wrestling.
"That's what we did growing up," Sanderson said. "Once one person is a wrestler, everybody wants to be a wrestler in the family. And it's a sport where everyone has an opportunity to compete too, regardless of size or weight."
Sanderson, a former Cyclone wrestler, has three brothers involved with the program. His older brothers Cody and Cole Sanderson wrestled for the Cyclones and now work on his staff. Younger brother Cyler Sanderson is a redshirt freshman on the team.
Cyler Sanderson said he always knew he was going to be a wrestler because of his older brothers' experience and influence.
"I grew up watching my brothers, and my dad was a coach," he said. "It's all I ever wanted to do."
The Paulson brothers from Iowa State were the closest to matching the Askrens' for championship titles. Trent Paulson won the 157-pound title, but Travis Paulson finished second in the 165-pound finals to Oklahoma State's Johny Hendricks. Travis Paulson's loss came almost immediately after Trent Paulson's victory. Between matches, Trent Paulson talked about what it was like to grow up with a twin brother and fellow wrestler.
"It's meant the world to me," Paulson said. "He's a perfect workout partner. We're always within five to six pounds."
Trent Paulson said he thinks there is a definite reason why there are so many successful brother tandems in wrestling.
"Because in wrestling, it's all about hard you can push yourself," Trent Paulson said. "And when it's your brother, neither one wants to give in."
Trent Paulson said he has an advantage against other wrestlers who do not have brothers with similar talents.
"I don't think I would be where I am today without him," he said.
The Askren brothers have more of a gap in weight. Following Ben Askren's win in the 174-pound championship, MU sophomore Raymond Jordan won the 184-pound title, and Max Askren followed to win the 197-pound championship. Max Askren said he fed off the entire event, not only his brother's success.
"I just kind of feed off the atmosphere," he said. "Ever since I've been growing up, you're sitting at wrestling tournaments for hours and hours. I'm a fan of a lot of these guys out here wrestling. It's fun to watch them."
Ben Askren said his relationship with his brother is stronger because of their shared passion for the sport.
"It's great to have Max doing what he's doing," he said. "I know how hard he's worked. It's something we share is a passion for wrestling, and it's something we can do together. It's great."