Will we see a high profile/NCAA title threat type guy leave one of the big 3-5 programs to go to a competitor?

[nhs67]

If Max Askren takes over Wiscy, we'll see them transfer there.

[mksioszk2]

30 minutes ago, nhs67 said:

If Max Askren takes over Wiscy, we'll see them transfer there.

If someone related to Askren takes over Wisconsin you'll likely see a lot of transfers back to Wisconsin, or at least that is the rumor I have heard. 

 

Mirasola's, Sinclair, Millard, Dailey, DuChateau possibly others I can't think of. 

 

[pokemonster]

23 minutes ago, mksioszk2 said:

If someone related to Askren takes over Wisconsin you'll likely see a lot of transfers back to Wisconsin, or at least that is the rumor I have heard. 

Mirasola's, Sinclair, Millard, Dailey, DuChateau possibly others I can't think of. 

Is the word on the street that this is occurring? Seemed like a pipe dream.

[MPhillips]

2 minutes ago, pokemonster said:

Is the word on the street that this is occurring?

No street I've been down...

[mksioszk2]

1 minute ago, pokemonster said:

Is the word on the street that this is occurring? Seemed like a pipe dream.

I don't recall if it was on here or the Wisconsin Wrestling online forum or I heard it from someone face to face, but there has been a rumor that the reason Bono got an extension was to restructure his contract to change his buyout clause and he's getting canned after this season. 

How much truth there is to that I'm not sure, but I do know there's been a long standing rumor that Max Askren wants Parker Keckeisen to come back to AWA North Shore after this year and take over full time coaching. Whether that's for him to go to Wisconsin or just to have more time with his family I don't know. 

[BruceyB]

3 minutes ago, mksioszk2 said:

I don't recall if it was on here or the Wisconsin Wrestling online forum or I heard it from someone face to face, but there has been a rumor that the reason Bono got an extension was to restructure his contract to change his buyout clause and he's getting canned after this season. 

How much truth there is to that I'm not sure, but I do know there's been a long standing rumor that Max Askren wants Parker Keckeisen to come back to AWA North Shore after this year and take over full time coaching. Whether that's for him to go to Wisconsin or just to have more time with his family I don't know. 

Max does seem like the perfect fit. If, which is a big if, the Wisconsin AD wants to see their program reach the highest level in program history, Max would be the best possible hire IMO. Wiscy native, huge name recognition through the success of himself, his brother, and AWA. All of these AWA guys would have to be recruited away from UW instead of now where no one wants to wrestle there. Through all of the Askren's connections, I'd imagine they know plenty of people that would donate money to bring the program into relevancy sooner rather than later. I would be surprised to see it happen, but it's possible that the challenge of bringing your home state program back from the dead is an enticing challenge.

[Le duke]

3 hours ago, mksioszk2 said:

I don't recall if it was on here or the Wisconsin Wrestling online forum or I heard it from someone face to face, but there has been a rumor that the reason Bono got an extension was to restructure his contract to change his buyout clause and he's getting canned after this season. 

How much truth there is to that I'm not sure, but I do know there's been a long standing rumor that Max Askren wants Parker Keckeisen to come back to AWA North Shore after this year and take over full time coaching. Whether that's for him to go to Wisconsin or just to have more time with his family I don't know. 

Keckeisen has to have senior lever aspirations, right? If so, not sure how realistic that is.

[mksioszk2]

50 minutes ago, Le duke said:

Keckeisen has to have senior lever aspirations, right? If so, not sure how realistic that is.

It's been a rumor I've heard for at least the last 2 years. Like I said idk how much truth there is to it. 

I would love to see him come back and coach at AWA and have Max as the Wisconsin head coach. I think it would instantly make them more competitive and that would be better for college wrestling overall, and I say that as a Penn State fan for the 16 years I've been watching college wrestling out of the 26 I've been alive.

[bnwtwg]

A tough but realistic question is what happens to the AWA pipeline if the Askrens move on to AWA? There are three outcomes (improve, maintain, decline) and the monkey's paw could curl if they move up to college wrestling, assuming Max is HC and Ben is asst or RTC.

[The_KC_Godfather]

What is Max’s home life? Married, kids? I can’t remember the exact reason but why was it that people think Ben wouldn’t coach at Wiscy? Was it that his wife has a job where they live and their family is settled, or more so that he doesn’t want to “report to” anyone, has AWA and doesn’t need the money?

Obviously I’d be ecstatic if one of them took over at Mizzou after Smith retires (no idea when that will be and not pushing for it), but would think Wiscy would be a much more convenient place than Columbia.

[BruceyB]

1 hour ago, bnwtwg said:

A tough but realistic question is what happens to the AWA pipeline if the Askrens move on to AWA? There are three outcomes (improve, maintain, decline) and the monkey's paw could curl if they move up to college wrestling, assuming Max is HC and Ben is asst or RTC.

I think Ben would be essentially like a coach on retainer. He loves the freedom and development at AWA and I don't think he would consider moving on to UW full-time. He might come do some sessions or 1 on 1 work here and there, but I think Max is a better fit from what Ben has said to be a college coach.

 

1 hour ago, The_KC_Godfather said:

What is Max’s home life? Married, kids? I can’t remember the exact reason but why was it that people think Ben wouldn’t coach at Wiscy? Was it that his wife has a job where they live and their family is settled, or more so that he doesn’t want to “report to” anyone, has AWA and doesn’t need the money?

Obviously I’d be ecstatic if one of them took over at Mizzou after Smith retires (no idea when that will be and not pushing for it), but would think Wiscy would be a much more convenient place than Columbia.

Max is married and has a young son. Ben has expressed that he doesn't want to deal with the bureaucracy of college athletics and feel like he will be reprimanded for speaking his mind. So yes, the "reporting to" is his biggest concern. Ben has made it pretty clear that he loves living in Wisconsin and would be unlikely to uproot to take over the Missouri program.  

[pokemonster]

8 hours ago, BruceyB said:

Ben has expressed that he doesn't want to deal with the bureaucracy of college athletics and feel like he will be reprimanded for speaking his mind. So yes, the "reporting to" is his biggest concern. Ben has made it pretty clear that he loves living in Wisconsin and would be unlikely to uproot to take over the Missouri program.  

Yep, Ben has said this multiple times on his AWA wrestling channel that it just wouldn't be worth it. That man likes freedom and wants to do what he wants to do. I think the NIL era and ridiculousness that is recruiting these days made it even less likely. 

[BloodRound]

On 2/11/2025 at 5:06 PM, Wrestleknownothing said:

There is an absolute whack job on the Rutgers board who claims to be Tony Surage, two-time AA for Rutgers in the 80's, saying that Rutgers will get 2-4 PSU guys and 1-2 Iowa guys this off season who are "Suriano level guys", or something like that. 

Yeah I can't tell if it is a level of trolling or level of deep insecurity that my mind can't wrap around with that guy.  Some of his posts have also made me pull the trigger on a Rivals account just to comment... but then I remember I don't wanna pay money to get mad on a wrestling forum.

[D3 for LU]

17 hours ago, CHROMEBIRD said:

When you have programs as stacked as PSU and Iowa...

The other side of this that I'd like to see is a non-top 5-10 wrestling program splurging on  a very high profile wrestler to kickstart things. Have we seen that happen before? I don't think that's what CSUB is doing. But I could see programs like MSU, SDSU, UNI, and others rolling the dice on a big name and pulling it off. Or maybe Lehigh fans pooling their NIL money and bringing in a superstar hometown kid. 

With our luck...

we would need just a little bit more. 

D3

[Wrestleknownothing]

15 minutes ago, BloodRound said:

Yeah I can't tell if it is a level of trolling or level of deep insecurity that my mind can't wrap around with that guy.  Some of his posts have also made me pull the trigger on a Rivals account just to comment... but then I remember I don't wanna pay money to get mad on a wrestling forum.

You can get mad for free. I have a free account. The paid account gets you DM and access to premium content of some sort. When you find yourself all lathered up you can come back here and take it out on me.

[Le duke]

Yeah I can't tell if it is a level of trolling or level of deep insecurity that my mind can't wrap around with that guy.  Some of his posts have also made me pull the trigger on a Rivals account just to comment... but then I remember I don't wanna pay money to get mad on a wrestling forum.

I have paid exactly zero dollars and have been posting on the PSU rivals board for several years.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BloodRound]

1 hour ago, Le duke said:

I have paid exactly zero dollars and have been posting on the PSU rivals board for several years.

Finally found a page that will not try to make me pay a monthly subscription for it.  Thanks!

[CHROMEBIRD]

5 hours ago, D3 for LU said:

With our luck...

we would need just a little bit more. 

D3

Be sure to ask everyone to check under their sofa cushions

[D3 for LU]

12 minutes ago, CHROMEBIRD said:

Be sure to ask everyone to check under their sofa cushions

Yes.

We will not forget to check!

D3