As a sport, college wrestling flies pretty much under the radar. It takes a special individual or team to put the sport on the front of the nation’s sports pages or to get a brief mention on ESPN’s SportsCenter.
Dan Gable, his Iowa teams, and Iowa State’s Cael Sanderson provided that excitement to get the mention for the sport.
Now there’s a guy on the horizon who might push the world’s oldest sport off the back pages.
He’s Missouri’s Ben Askren, unbeaten at 23-0 at 174 pounds. The record is important but more important is how Askren gets those wins.
Of the 23 wins this season, Askren, who won an NCAA title last season and who has 68 straight wins, 21 are by fall and 19 of those pins came in the first period of bouts.
Askren, who hails from Hartland, Wis., won last week’s Southern Scuffle for the third time as his team edged Minnesota for the team title.
The Tiger, who sports a large bushy hairstyle, isn’t your basic wrestler. He’s got more than a little flare — earning the nickname “Funk Master.”
The senior won last year’s Hodge Trophy, the Heisman Trophy of college wrestling, and has to be the favorite for this year’s award.
Only Sanderson has won more than one Hodge Trophy.
Perhaps the sport can ride Askren’s style to the front of the sports page.
Missouri looks like it deserves the No. 1 ranking with a tight 31/2 point win over Minnesota in last week’s Southern Scuffle in Greensboro, N.C.
Wrestling International Newsmagazine has joined the NWCA in naming the Tigers as the top team.
That crown might sit a tad uneasy as the National Duals come up Jan 13-14 at Northern Iowa. The two teams should be seeded No. 1 and No. 2.
In the Scuffle, both Minnesota and Missouri wrestled without a notable starter — Minnesota missing C.P. Schlatter at 157 and Missouri without Matt Pell at 165. Really was pretty even and the Tigers managed a few more points.
Earning titles for Missouri were Askren and little brother Max Askren, who decked J.D. Bergman of Ohio State in the finals at 197.
A third Missouri finalist, Raymond Jordan, forfeited at 184 to Minnesota’s Roger Kish.
Minnesota received other titles from Manual Rivera (141), Dustin Schlatter (149) and Cole Konrad (285).
Other champions were 125, Cornell’s Troy Nickerson; 133, Cornell’s Adam Frey; 157, Lock Haven’s Seth Martin; and 165, Edinboro’s Deonte Penn.
Nickerson and Frey were making their first appearances of the season after nursing injuries.
Nickerson is last year’s NCAA runnerup while Frey is a freshman and a former Blair Academy star.
Penn trailed another Cornell wrestler, Steve Anceravage, before pinning him. Cornell, which hosts Penn State on Sunday, had another finalist, Jordan Leen, who lost 7-1 to Schlatter.
In the Midlands, Iowa State took home the title with 154.5 points to easily outdistance in-state rival Iowa which had 107.
Both the Cyclones and Hawkeyes had one winner.
The champs: 125, Angel Escobedo, Indiana; 133, Nick Simmons, Michigan State; 141, Ryan Lang, Northwestern; 149, Mike Grimes, Northern Illinois; 157, Mike Poeta, Illinois; 165, Travis Paulson, Iowa State; 174, Eric Luedke, Iowa; 184, Ben Wissell, unattached; 197, Mike Tamillow, Northwestern; and 285, Tervel Diagnev, Nebraska-Kearney.
Paulson defeated Iowa’s Mark Perry 5-3 in the final.
WIN’s top 5 teams, in the latest poll, are: Missouri, Minnesota, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, and Iowa. Penn State is now 12th.
This weekend doesn’t feature the strongest slate as several teams are resting for the National Duals.
The schedule:
Friday: Oregon State at Nebraska; Central Michigan at Michigan State; Cal Poly at Portland State, at Oregon; Lehigh at Stanford Duals; Oregon State at Nebraska.
Saturday: Oklahoma State, Harvard, Oklahoma at Lone Star Duals; Hofstra at Michigan; York at Penn.
Sunday: Penn State at Cornell, Kent State at Ohio State; Hofstra at Central Michigan; Lehigh at Sun Devil Duals; Arizona State hosts Sun Devil Duals.
John Huckaby writes about college wrestling for the Centre Daily Times. He can be reached at [email protected].
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