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Whitelaw Warriors Wrestling Club, 1402 Clark Street STE #211 (2nd FL), Manitowoc, WI (2026)

07/13/2025

06/15/2025

06/08/2025

Prayers, thoughts, well-wishes, etc. for Ben Askren of Arrowhead HS (Wisconsin)/Missouri/Askren Wrestling Academy, for he is currently in critical condition fighting a severe staph infection.

Ben Askren was a 2X WIAA State Champion out of Arrowhead High School in Wisconsin! In HS, he also won the 2002 Junior National Championship and was 2nd at High School Nationals, 4th at FILA Junior Freestyle Nationals twice and was 5th at the 2000 Greco National Tournament!

At the collegiate level, Askren competed for The University Of Missouri where he was a 4X Finalist at the D1 NCAA Tournament and 2X Champion, going 2-2-1-1 at 174 lbs from 2004-2007 and went 2-1-1-1 at the Big 12 Championships in those years. He was awarded the Hodge Trophy (award given to college wrestling’s best overall wrestler) 2X as well as the Schalles Award (award given to college wrestling’s best pinner)! He finished with a career with a record of 153-7, winning his final 87 matches in a row and finishing with 93 pins!

Askren was also a 2004 Fila Junior National Champion, a 2005 Pan-Am Champ in Freestyle and 2009 World Champion in grappling at 84 kgs! He was also an Olympian for Team USA in 2008!

After his competitive career in wrestling concluded, Askren began training and competing in MMA, where he became known by the masses as Ben “Funky” Askren. He was the Bellator ONE Welterweight Champion and remained undefeated for over a decade before competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Ben’s younger brother, Max Askren was also a 🔨 for Mizzou. He was a 3X NCAA AA/1X Champion and was a 3X placer/1X state champ for Arrowhead HS in Wisconsin as well!

Interesting fact: Ben and Max Askren were both born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa!

Ben currently runs/coaches “Askren Wrestling Academy” in multiple locations in Wisconsin and it has become one of the top wrestling clubs around.

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