Brothers are wired for aggression. Their weapons are noogies and charley horses. They call each other names like “goat breath” and “skunk face.” They brawl and maul and then, one day, it ends.
Missouri wrestlers Ben and Max Askren never stopped fighting each other. Almost every day, they step on the mat and grapple for 30 minutes. It’s intense, but never violent. Impassioned, but never obsessive.
MU wrestler Max Askren, top, and his older brother Ben Askren, bottom, practice at the Hearnes Center Thursday. Ben Askren hopes to wrestle for the U.S. Olympic Team in 2008 after graduation. (IKURU KUWAJIMA/Missourian)
“With their passion for the sport, it permeates through the room,” Missouri wrestling coach Brian Smith said, “and it’s contagious.”
Preparations for the upcoming season have begun, and Ben Askren, 22, and Max Askren, 20, are two of the many reasons Missouri is ranked No. 3 in the nation in the wrestlingreport.com preseason poll released on Aug. 30. The two started the sport as children and soon fell in love with it. Max Askren followed his older brother to MU, where he has seen him establish himself as the best collegiate wrestler in the country. Before Ben Askren graduates next year and attempts to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team, they will be Missouri teammates for the first and only time.
Their father, Chuck Askren, introduced them to the sport. Chuck Askren enjoyed wrestling in high school, but he said he was nothing spectacular. He married his wife Michele, and the family settled in Hartland, Wis.
When Ben Askren was in first grade, his father found out about the Arrowhead Wrestling Club in the local paper. He said he thought the sport would instill values of work and toughness in his boys. They went to a meeting, and Chuck Askren volunteered to be the club’s president.
Ben Askren started right away, but his brother was too young. Max Askren tagged along and ran around the gym, and soon enough, he was rolling on the mats too.
Though their father was in charge, it was the boys who wanted to keep wrestling.
“It was their choice,” Chuck Askren said. “It was what they wanted to do.”
Chuck Askren also refused to coach them after a while. A parent told him, “Get off the mat and don’t coach.” He said he listened to the advice, and it was one of the best decisions he made.
The brothers could not confine their activity to the club. They also practiced at home. They received a wrestling mat for Christmas one year, and once they were too big for that, they got another. Then their friends started to come over to wrestle. Their newly renovated basement, with the 12-by-24 wrestling room with padded walls, weight machines and sauna, was the hangout. The boys would also put on gloves and box.
Their father didn’t mind. He said he believed “boys should be tough, not weenies.”
The Askren residence could not escape damage with two rambunctious brothers running around. They shared a Sony Playstation, which was in Ben Askren’s room. One day Max Askren really wanted to play Madden football, but his older brother refused to hand over the controller. Max Askren reacted by shutting off the system’s power and immediately darted from the room and bounded down the stairs. His younger brother caught him at the bottom of the stairs, picked him up and threw him against the wall. The toss was perfect. The impact dented the wall between two studs.
The brothers also left their mark on the mat in Wisconsin. John Mesenbrink, their coach at Arrowhead High School, said the brothers were natural leaders.
“They have the ability almost single-handedly to elevate the level of their teammates,” he said.
Chuck Askren said Mesenbrink was an important influence on the two.
“He raised their level,” Chuck Askren said. “We were very fortunate to have a man like that involved in their lives.”
In high school, Ben Askren won two state titles and was a three-time All-American. Max Askren won one state title. He was also named state wrestler of the year as a senior and placed seventh at junior nationals.
Their relationship has made them better wrestlers, Mesenbrink said.
“They feed off each other. They don’t need to verbally communicate with each other,” he said. “It just happens naturally. It’s not that they are competing against each other, but they bring out the best in each other.”
Like many brothers, once Ben Askren moved out of the house and came to MU, their relationship matured. Their father said the two gained mutual respect for each other.
Max Askren agrees. He said he followed his brother here.
“If there’s ever anything going down, we’re there for each other,” he said.
They can’t live together, though.
“Ben (Askren) has more free will in terms of house cleanliness,” Max Askren said. “It’s good we have our own space.”
Their distinctive living habits do not drive them too far apart. They are neighbors.
Other differences are quite apparent. Ben Askren’s curly blond afro is as big as his happy-go-lucky personality. His brother’s short blond hair fits his more serious, quiet demeanor.
The two also practice together. Their endurance is remarkable, Smith said. They will battle for 30 or 40 minutes at a time, which is considerably longer than a seven-minute college match. Their encounters also never become too heated. Smith said he has coached other brothers before, and at times, he has had to separate them. That does not happen with the Askrens, he said.
Mesenbrink said the brothers know they can’t risk injury.
“They know how important they are for each other,” he said, “and they know how to go right up to that line.”
Their work ethic continues to influence wrestlers at Arrowhead today, Mesenbrink said.
Their intangibles, especially their mental toughness, help them in their most difficult matches.
“They take risks against the best wrestlers,” Mesenbrink said, “and then they figure out how to make their strategies work.”
All their work over the years has translated into success. Ben Askren is the best collegiate wrestler in the nation. After finishing second twice at the NCAA championships, he completed his junior season undefeated, winning the 174-pound NCAA individual title in March. He received multiple accolades for his perfect season. He won the Dan Hodge Trophy, wrestling’s version of the Heisman, and Sports Illustrated on Campus named him collegiate wrestler of the year. He was also selected to his second nationalAll-Academic team by the National Wrestling Coaches Association.
“I’ve never been around anybody like him,” Smith said. “I think he’s going to be the new torch-holder for our sport.”
Max Askren hopes to have similar results. After redshirting last year as a freshman, he will compete probably at 197 pounds. He is ranked No. 9 in that weight class by Wrestlingreport.com. He has never defeated his brother, but his other results are promising. He was one of the eight Americans who competed at the FILA Junior World Championships in Guatemala at the beginning of September. He finished eighth in freestyle in the 96-kilogram weight class.
After this year, Ben Askren will graduate and start training to qualify for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team. He said he has an open invitation to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs where his room and board are free.
Though his younger brother will remain at MU, Ben Askren’s absence won’t weaken their relationship.
“I told him I’d always be there for him,” Ben Askren said, “and I’m a man of my word.”
Wrestling Gear
