Askren moves out of his brother’s shadow

The sophomore has had seven pins this season.

By Nick Forrester
Feb. 22, 2008

Over the past couple of years, the face of Missouri wrestling has been Ben Askren, in large part because he won two national championships. But his younger brother, sophomore Max Askren, is having success in collegiate wrestling as well, currently ranked No. 3 in the nation.

While Max and Ben share success with wrestling, they have very different personalities.

“Max is really quiet and reserved compared to his brother, who’s very outgoing,” coach Brian Smith said. “They’re very different, and yet they’re the same. The same being that they both have a passion for wrestling, and different in that Ben is very outgoing and likes being the center of attention, whereas Max is quiet and just likes to be Max.”

Last weekend against Iowa State, Missouri trailed the Cyclones 12-9 with three matches remaining. After No. 4-ranked MU junior Raymond Jordan lost a tough match to No. 1-ranked Iowa State sophomore Jake Varner 3-1, MU trailed by a score of 15-9 going into Max Askren’s match.

After he was taken down 59 seconds into the match, Max Askren recovered by taking No. 13-ranked Iowa State senior David Bertolino straight to his back, getting the pin for Missouri, which tied the dual meet score at 15-15 going into the final match.

“(Bertolino) was doing really well on top, and you could tell that Max was getting frustrated,” Smith said. “Max didn’t lose his composure, and he just kept going, and then he had the kid flat on his back for several seconds. I don’t think the ref wanted to call it because he was on his back for about 3 to 4 seconds, but he eventually did, and that put us back into the dual meet which gave us a chance to win it.”

The pin was Max Askren’s seventh for the season, and 15th career pin. It was also his second fastest pin of the season.

“I know I pinned him in the first period, but it’s never been one of my goals to get a fast pin like that,” he said.

Missouri ended up losing the dual meet, 18-15, when No. 6-ranked Iowa State sophomore David Zabriskie defeated No. 12-ranked MU sophomore Mark Ellis.

Askren has not lost since the Las Vegas Invitational, which was held in early December.

“At the beginning of the year, he was always to himself, and then in the middle of the season, the team was struggling, and I asked Max to take on some leadership role, and he’s really done that,” Smith said. “He’s looked up to, and he’s really stepped up his wrestling since that point. Max trains hard, works hard and is a good student. This second half of the season, he’s really been working hard in practice, and then transferring things to the mat. He’s wrestling the best he’s wrestled since I’ve coached him.”

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Askren moves out of his brother’s shadow

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