"I've worked long and hard not to just be the best wrestler in my weight class, but the best wrestler in the nation, period," said Askren, after dominating Northwestern's previously-unbeaten Jake Herbert, 14-2, in the finals. "I try to go out there and make it exciting every time for the fans, give them what they want."
2006 Rev Wrestler of the Year Voting
1st-5th-Place Votes -- 9-7-5-3-1
(First-Place Votes) :
1. Ben Askren, Missouri -- 63 (7)
2. Cole Konrad, Minnesota -- 58 (1)
3. Nate Gallick, ISU -- 21
4. Les Sigman, Neb.-Omaha -- 19
5. Dustin Schlatter, Minnesota -- 17
6. Shane Webster, Oregon -- 5
7. Johny Hendricks, OSU -- 4
7. Jake Rosholt, OSU -- 4
7. Joe Dubuque, Indiana -- 4
10. Troy Nickerson, Cornell -- 3
11. Matt Valenti, Penn -- 1
11. Earl Jones, Central Oklahoma -- 1
On Wednesday night, Askren was named 2006 Rev Wrestler of the Year by RevWrestling.com. The award is given annually to the nation's top collegiate wrestler across all divisions of wrestling as voted on by the writers and executives of RevWrestling.com.
1st-5th-Place Votes -- 9-7-5-3-1
(First-Place Votes) :
1. Ben Askren, Missouri -- 63 (7)
2. Cole Konrad, Minnesota -- 58 (1)
3. Nate Gallick, ISU -- 21
4. Les Sigman, Neb.-Omaha -- 19
5. Dustin Schlatter, Minnesota -- 17
6. Shane Webster, Oregon -- 5
7. Johny Hendricks, OSU -- 4
7. Jake Rosholt, OSU -- 4
7. Joe Dubuque, Indiana -- 4
10. Troy Nickerson, Cornell -- 3
11. Matt Valenti, Penn -- 1
11. Earl Jones, Central Oklahoma -- 1
Askren, who hails from Hartland, Wisconsin, won by five votes (63-58) over fellow Wisconsin native Cole Konrad, who won the heavyweight title for Minnesota. Askren received seven of the eight first-place votes, with the other vote going to Konrad.
Askren finished his junior season with a perfect 45-0 record, which is the only undefeated season in the history of the Missouri program. He also set season records for pins (25), consecutive wins (45), and currently owns the record for most career pins at Missouri (61).
"Ben Askren put together one of the most dominating single seasons in the history of NCAA wrestling," said RevWrestling.com senior writer Andrew Hipps. "He made it look easy while wrestling with a wide-open style that is extremely entertaining to watch."
Ben Askren (Photo/Danielle Hobeika)"It's hard to get mad at a kid who is a straight-A student, does everything right, has a passion for this thing that he loves, which is wrestling, and lives it," said Smith. "That goes to the room. Our team in the summer works out with Ben … and follows Ben. He's the leader of the team. A kid that's like that, you don't want to pull the reins too much because what he's doing is something special and it's something that he loves."
Iowa State's Nate Gallick, who won the 141-pound NCAA title and finished his senior season with a 35-0 record, came in third with 21 votes. Nebraska-Omaha's Les Sigman, who capped off his career with a fourth NCAA Division II title at heavyweight, was fourth with 19 votes. Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota, who won the 149-pound title as a true freshman, rounded out the top five with 17 votes.
Others wrestlers who received votes included Shane Webster of Oregon, Johny Hendricks and Jake Rosholt of Oklahoma State, Joe Dubuque of Indiana, Troy Nickerson of Cornell, Matt Valenti of Penn, and Earl Jones of Central Oklahoma.
Launched in October 2005, RevWrestling.com covers all aspects of amateur wrestling, including high school, all divisions of college wrestling, freestyle and Greco-Roman competition, and Real Pro Wrestling. The Web site, located at www.RevWrestling.com, provides wrestling fans with timely wrestling news coverage along with unique content features such as Rev Rankings, exclusive athlete profiles, and hard-hitting analysis of major issues affecting amateur wrestling.
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