Originally Posted by rico
Also, don't know which wrestling team you guys are fans of, but I am assuming there are some Mizzou fans in here. Thought I would drop a line about what my brothers are looking to do post-high school. Ben Askren handed out awards at Iowa Grade School State a few years ago. Every year, they have a wrestling celebrity hand out awards, hang out with the kids and sign autographs. One year it was Gable. Another year it was Rulon (that dude seemed depressed as hell...just a downer to be around). Another year they had Cory Clark and Jon Meeks...the year they won their 4th HS titles in Iowa. The year Askren handed out awards, my youngest brother (now a Freshman) pinned his way through the tourney and won OW for his division...he ended up winning that tourney 4 times, which is tied for the record. The older one (now a Junior) placed 3rd that year. They both got to talk to Askren for a while and they freaking loved him and because of his personality, he instantly became one of their favorite all time wrestlers along with Cary Kolat. Evidently they thought he was really funny and what-not...which my whole family appreciates humor.
Anyways, they are going to a 5 day camp with Askren this Summer and are super stoked about it. My Junior brother is looking to wrestle after college. He would like to wrestle D1, even if he has to walk on. He placed 7th at state as a Sophomore, 4th as a Junior this year (ranked 2nd all year and was put on the shitty side of the bracket...the kid he handled easily in the district finals placed 2nd...the Champion pretty much had his way with my bro in the semis, but that kid has brought it up a level this year...on of Iowa's best and a returning Fargo All-American) and has racked up a really good record to boot. He finished like 51-3 this season.
He is interested in 2 schools. UNI because his older bro wrestled there...plus some of his former teammates are there. I don't like this idea. Sorter may know why...
He is also interested in wrestling for Mizzou for 2 reasons: Askren being his favorite wrestler and the Miklus brothers. The Miklus's went to a school in Iowa called Southeast Polk, which is a 3A powerhouse... My bro is really good friends with an ex-teammate of Miklus's named Colin Strickland as well as a kid named Aaron Meyer. He got to know one of them through those two and really hit it off with him. He is friends with a lot of those Polk kids.
I realize he isn't currently like a total blue-chip, can't miss D1 prospect at the moment, but there are some positives with him. He is dedicated, and is ALWAYS attempting to actively learn and improve...Even if failed to improve from where he is at (which is unlikely...there hasn't been a year since he was in 1st grade that he hasn't taken at least a gradual step forward) he would be a nice kid to have in the room. Not to mention, he and my youngest brother are inseparable. It would most definitely be a package deal with those two no matter where he decides to go. And many people (mostly local) are predicting my youngest (Freshman) brother to be a 2-3 time state champion in Iowa. My youngest brother is a little rough around the edges, but is fearless and athletic as hell and extremely...dangerous... He did well at 120 lbs at state and physical maturity wise, he is still a little boy...just kind of hitting puberty now...is growing like me and I was 119 as a Freshman and the last time I wrestled in college, I was having to cut my ass off to make 184. If you watched the video a couple pages earlier, he almost upset the Iowan Junior in the semis at state who is arguably in the top 5 for being the best pound for pound Iowa high school wrestler in the state...DEFINITELY, one of the most dominant...pins or techs about everyone prior to the start of the 3rd period...and my bro was UP 7-4 to start the 3rd and UP 8-6 with 50 seconds left in the match when he got caught on his back. That kid, btw, is probably going to follow his idol, Derek St. John to South Dakota State...that team is hitting the Iowa high school kids hard and are landing some.
Last year, my youngest bro in Folkstyle finished his 8th grade year with a 70-something and 3 record. Lost to a California kid at the NUWAY Duals. Crapped his pants and blew a 5 point lead vs. one of his best friends, Garrett Niel at AAU State and lost a match in OT in a dual meet at the Park Hill Duals of all places to a kid from Kansas City area named Jake Beason. Anyone know of that kid or how he did as a Freshman this season? 2-3 years ago, my bro used to have battles with a Mizzou kid named Weston Diblasi, but those two have seemed to grow apart from each other in weight. Anyone know anything about either of those 2?
Anyways, for those who care...my bros are very interested in wrestling for Missouri. And I am all for it, but know very little about the program, excluding the obvious. Anyone want to fill me in on some of the ins and outs of Mizzou wrestling?
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