Q and A with Ben Askren: 2008 Olympian talks about possible return to wrestling
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by Craig Sesker
Ben Askren battles Cuba's Ivan Fundora at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Larry Slater photo.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Ben Askren was back at the U.S. Olympic Training Center on Friday.
Askren, a 2008 Olympian and two-time Hodge Trophy winner, worked out with the American team as the current two-week U.S. World Team Freestyle Camp was drawing to a close.
The 25-year-old Askren is on his way to Tempe, Ariz., to start his new position as an assistant coach at Arizona State.
Askren has taken this season off from wrestling and has focused on Mixed Martial Arts. He's won his first two fights and has another fight coming up later this month. He also plans to compete in a big grappling event that is coming up in Europe.
Askren won his first match at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, before falling in two straight periods to past Olympic and World medalist Ivan Fundora of Cuba at 74 kg/163 lbs. Askren finished seventh.
There has been talk that Askren is coming back to wrestling. He addressed that and a number of other topics during an interview with USA Wrestling's Craig Sesker on Friday afternoon at the Olympic Training Center.
What brings you back to the OTC?
I am on my way to Arizona. I stopped in to see one of my college coaches, Bart Horton, up at Air Force. I stayed at his house. I came down here to work out with the team. I have a bunch of good friends on the freestyle team and I wanted to see them. I want to maybe give them a couple of good workouts if I can, and then I will head down to Tempe and start my new job at ASU.
Are you coming back to compete in wrestling next season?
It's up in the air still.
What are the odds that you return, 50/50?
Maybe a little more than that. The cat is not out of the bag yet - let's just say that.
I know (new ASU head coach) Shawn Charles has coached you and worked with you. How excited are you about what he's putting together?
I think we have a really, really good coaching staff. I don't know (new ASU assistant coach) Bryan Snyder yet. Shawn said he's a great guy, so I will take his word for it. I know Raymond Jordan and Brian Stith pretty well, and I like them both. Of course, I love Shawn. He helped me out in making the (Olympic) Team. I really like the way he thinks. We're on the same page with pretty much everything, so I think it's going to be a really good opportunity for us and the rest of the staff to work together. We think we can build a great program down there.
What will your role be with the Arizona State team?
I'm not one of the main three coaches. Shawn asked me to be one of the main three, but I didn't really think it would be fair to the guys because I still have my own goals. I can't be in there all the time helping them. I will give ASU everything I can when I'm there, but I still might want to make a World Team and I might still want to fight some more. I didn't think it would be right to take one of the main three spots if I was still competing.
What is the potential for the program at ASU?
I was on the phone with Shawn yesterday and I told him I thought we could challenge for the (national) title in three or four years. He started going crazy and telling me we were going to challenge for the title next year. That's what I like to hear. Let's do it. I don't like to wait either. I'm impatient. I think we have some good potential with the kids we have, and I think we are going to bring some real good recruits in here with the staff we have. I think kids are going to flock to us.
Was the plan after the Olympics to just take a year off from wrestling?
After Beijing, I was done, in my mind with wrestling. I really do enjoy fighting and I've got another fight coming up on August 28 in Des Moines, Iowa. The guy is supposed to be better than the last two guys I fought. I'm looking forward to seeing where I can go with that. At the same time, I still miss wrestling. I think it might miss me a little bit too, I hope. I don't feel like I reached my potential in wrestling, so I may want to see what I can do there and try to reach the top eventually.
How would you grade your progress in MMA?
It's slow, because I've been traveling a lot this summer and I've been real involved with wrestling this summer. I've done some camps and worked out in wrestling quite a bit with a bunch of the Missouri guys. I've tried to help my brother, Max, and (NCAA champion) Mark Ellis, and some of the other guys there.
Max has a year left at Missouri and Ellis also is back. How hard was it to leave Columbia?
I'm close to everybody on the team. Max, Nick (Marable) and Mark were guys I was on the team with at Missouri, and I'm very close with them. It's hard to leave them behind. At the same time, they are ready to spread their wings and fly. I think they will all do really well this season.
What is that battle going to be like at heavyweight with an NCAA champion in Ellis and a Junior World champion in Dom Bradley trying to make the lineup at Missouri?
It's a shame we can't have two heavyweight spots at Missouri because there's a good chance they would be No. 1 and No. 2 at the NCAA tournament. You can't say that for sure, because there are other tough guys. But Mark and Dom are as good as it gets. It makes it even harder because they are both great guys with good personalities. They are great wrestlers and great competitors. They don't avoid each other. They wrestle each other every day in the room. That has made them both better. They have conflicting styles where they make the other guy really work hard.
USA Wrestling's Living the Dream fund has significantly increased the money wrestlers can earn for winning medals. Will that factor into your decision to come back?
No, not really. There were monetary rewards if I would have won last year. I could've made quite a bit of money. What they're offering now, it's a good reward once you get there. But you better like the challenge and you better like the journey, or your life is going to be miserable. If you hate coming into the wrestling room every day, $250,000 isn't going to be worth it. I'm just going to try to enjoy the journey and the battles, and if I come out on top the money will just be icing on the cake.
Did you miss competing this year when U.S. Nationals and the U.S. World Team Trials were going on?
Yes, I did miss competing. I love to compete. That's my favorite part of the deal.
What's it like coming in here today for this camp?
I haven't been out here a lot. It's good to see familiar faces. I got to come in here and work out with my good friend, Keith Gavin, this morning. And I'm hoping to get another good workout in this afternoon.
How much have the U.S. National coaches talked to you about coming back to wrestling?
Everyone has put a little bug in my ear. I've heard from (Terry) Brands, I've heard from (U.S. World Team Coach) John Smith and I've heard from (U.S. National Coach) Zeke Jones. It's good to know they are thinking of me and know I can be successful. If I make a decision to come back, I know they will work with me to help me become the best. They've told me I haven't reached my potential and I need to keep working.
Take me back to Beijing. What went wrong and do you think about that much?
I try not to, because I don't like to. I wrestled a terrible second period against Fundora. Looking back, it was probably the stupidest period of wrestling I've done in a long time. I was more aggressive and should've been more patient. He beat me 3-1 in the first period, but I was in position to win at the end of the period. I had a trapped arm gut and just wasn't able to turn him. I really strayed from my strategy and didn't wrestle well. But the good thing is, I'm only 25 now. The next Olympics (in 2012 in London), I will be 28. That's about my peaking time. So I do have some time to make it to the top.
Did you put a lot of pressure on yourself at the Olympics?
I put a lot of pressure on myself every time I go out there. I never expect to do anything else but win when I step out there on the mat. I had the same approach I always have. I was ready to compete. Like I said, I just wrestled a really stupid second period against Fundora. Had I been smart, I could've taken that period and then taken the third. Hopefully, I will get another shot to do that.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Ben Askren was back at the U.S. Olympic Training Center on Friday.
Askren, a 2008 Olympian and two-time Hodge Trophy winner, worked out with the American team as the current two-week U.S. World Team Freestyle Camp was drawing to a close.
The 25-year-old Askren is on his way to Tempe, Ariz., to start his new position as an assistant coach at Arizona State.
Askren has taken this season off from wrestling and has focused on Mixed Martial Arts. He's won his first two fights and has another fight coming up later this month. He also plans to compete in a big grappling event that is coming up in Europe.
Askren won his first match at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, before falling in two straight periods to past Olympic and World medalist Ivan Fundora of Cuba at 74 kg/163 lbs. Askren finished seventh.
There has been talk that Askren is coming back to wrestling. He addressed that and a number of other topics during an interview with USA Wrestling's Craig Sesker on Friday afternoon at the Olympic Training Center.
What brings you back to the OTC?
I am on my way to Arizona. I stopped in to see one of my college coaches, Bart Horton, up at Air Force. I stayed at his house. I came down here to work out with the team. I have a bunch of good friends on the freestyle team and I wanted to see them. I want to maybe give them a couple of good workouts if I can, and then I will head down to Tempe and start my new job at ASU.
Are you coming back to compete in wrestling next season?
It's up in the air still.
What are the odds that you return, 50/50?
Maybe a little more than that. The cat is not out of the bag yet - let's just say that.
I know (new ASU head coach) Shawn Charles has coached you and worked with you. How excited are you about what he's putting together?
I think we have a really, really good coaching staff. I don't know (new ASU assistant coach) Bryan Snyder yet. Shawn said he's a great guy, so I will take his word for it. I know Raymond Jordan and Brian Stith pretty well, and I like them both. Of course, I love Shawn. He helped me out in making the (Olympic) Team. I really like the way he thinks. We're on the same page with pretty much everything, so I think it's going to be a really good opportunity for us and the rest of the staff to work together. We think we can build a great program down there.
What will your role be with the Arizona State team?
I'm not one of the main three coaches. Shawn asked me to be one of the main three, but I didn't really think it would be fair to the guys because I still have my own goals. I can't be in there all the time helping them. I will give ASU everything I can when I'm there, but I still might want to make a World Team and I might still want to fight some more. I didn't think it would be right to take one of the main three spots if I was still competing.
What is the potential for the program at ASU?
I was on the phone with Shawn yesterday and I told him I thought we could challenge for the (national) title in three or four years. He started going crazy and telling me we were going to challenge for the title next year. That's what I like to hear. Let's do it. I don't like to wait either. I'm impatient. I think we have some good potential with the kids we have, and I think we are going to bring some real good recruits in here with the staff we have. I think kids are going to flock to us.
Was the plan after the Olympics to just take a year off from wrestling?
After Beijing, I was done, in my mind with wrestling. I really do enjoy fighting and I've got another fight coming up on August 28 in Des Moines, Iowa. The guy is supposed to be better than the last two guys I fought. I'm looking forward to seeing where I can go with that. At the same time, I still miss wrestling. I think it might miss me a little bit too, I hope. I don't feel like I reached my potential in wrestling, so I may want to see what I can do there and try to reach the top eventually.
How would you grade your progress in MMA?
It's slow, because I've been traveling a lot this summer and I've been real involved with wrestling this summer. I've done some camps and worked out in wrestling quite a bit with a bunch of the Missouri guys. I've tried to help my brother, Max, and (NCAA champion) Mark Ellis, and some of the other guys there.
Max has a year left at Missouri and Ellis also is back. How hard was it to leave Columbia?
I'm close to everybody on the team. Max, Nick (Marable) and Mark were guys I was on the team with at Missouri, and I'm very close with them. It's hard to leave them behind. At the same time, they are ready to spread their wings and fly. I think they will all do really well this season.
What is that battle going to be like at heavyweight with an NCAA champion in Ellis and a Junior World champion in Dom Bradley trying to make the lineup at Missouri?
It's a shame we can't have two heavyweight spots at Missouri because there's a good chance they would be No. 1 and No. 2 at the NCAA tournament. You can't say that for sure, because there are other tough guys. But Mark and Dom are as good as it gets. It makes it even harder because they are both great guys with good personalities. They are great wrestlers and great competitors. They don't avoid each other. They wrestle each other every day in the room. That has made them both better. They have conflicting styles where they make the other guy really work hard.
USA Wrestling's Living the Dream fund has significantly increased the money wrestlers can earn for winning medals. Will that factor into your decision to come back?
No, not really. There were monetary rewards if I would have won last year. I could've made quite a bit of money. What they're offering now, it's a good reward once you get there. But you better like the challenge and you better like the journey, or your life is going to be miserable. If you hate coming into the wrestling room every day, $250,000 isn't going to be worth it. I'm just going to try to enjoy the journey and the battles, and if I come out on top the money will just be icing on the cake.
Did you miss competing this year when U.S. Nationals and the U.S. World Team Trials were going on?
Yes, I did miss competing. I love to compete. That's my favorite part of the deal.
What's it like coming in here today for this camp?
I haven't been out here a lot. It's good to see familiar faces. I got to come in here and work out with my good friend, Keith Gavin, this morning. And I'm hoping to get another good workout in this afternoon.
How much have the U.S. National coaches talked to you about coming back to wrestling?
Everyone has put a little bug in my ear. I've heard from (Terry) Brands, I've heard from (U.S. World Team Coach) John Smith and I've heard from (U.S. National Coach) Zeke Jones. It's good to know they are thinking of me and know I can be successful. If I make a decision to come back, I know they will work with me to help me become the best. They've told me I haven't reached my potential and I need to keep working.
Take me back to Beijing. What went wrong and do you think about that much?
I try not to, because I don't like to. I wrestled a terrible second period against Fundora. Looking back, it was probably the stupidest period of wrestling I've done in a long time. I was more aggressive and should've been more patient. He beat me 3-1 in the first period, but I was in position to win at the end of the period. I had a trapped arm gut and just wasn't able to turn him. I really strayed from my strategy and didn't wrestle well. But the good thing is, I'm only 25 now. The next Olympics (in 2012 in London), I will be 28. That's about my peaking time. So I do have some time to make it to the top.
Did you put a lot of pressure on yourself at the Olympics?
I put a lot of pressure on myself every time I go out there. I never expect to do anything else but win when I step out there on the mat. I had the same approach I always have. I was ready to compete. Like I said, I just wrestled a really stupid second period against Fundora. Had I been smart, I could've taken that period and then taken the third. Hopefully, I will get another shot to do that.
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