Wrestling’s Ben Askren Introduced as National Wrestling Hall of Fame Inductee

Missouri wrestling legend Ben Askren has been introduced to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Class of 2026. Askren joins fellow former Tiger J’den Cox as a distinguished member of the celebrated group.

“I am very proud of Ben and everything he represents”, stated head coach Brian Smith. “He is a great ambassador for the sport of wrestling, from his accomplishments at Mizzou or the U.S. Olympic Team, to how he has become the model club coach throughout the country. Ben has always lived it right, and even with his mental health, he continues to motivate and teach people how to live it the right way. Congratulations on an amazing accomplishment, making it into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame”. 

“The National Wrestling Hall of Fame is honored to announce the Class of 2026, an illustrious group whose enduring contributions exemplify the foundational principles of our sport. Every Hall of Fame class is special, but this one is even more so as it includes Lee Roy Smith, who will be retiring next year after more than 20 years of superb leadership as executive director of the Hall of Fame,” stated John Harris III, National Wrestling Hall of Fame Board of Governors Chairman. “These individuals have demonstrated exemplary leadership, discipline, and commitment, both on and off the mat, thereby advancing the legacy and cultural integrity of wrestling.”

The Class of 2026 can be honored and formally inducted through the forty ninth Honors Weekend on June 5 and 6, 2026, in Stillwater, Oklahoma. For extra data on Honors Weekend, please phone (405) 377-5243.

Distinguished members is usually a wrestler who has achieved extraordinary success in nationwide and/or worldwide competitors; a coach who has demonstrated nice management within the career and who has compiled an impressive document; or a contributor whose long-term actions have considerably enhanced the event and development of the game. Wrestlers should have retired from lively competitors for a interval of 5 years to be eligible for consideration as a Distinguished Member.

Askren was a two-time nationwide champion and a four-time NCAA finalist for Missouri, who additionally competed within the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Following runner-up finishes as a freshman and sophomore, Askren received 87 consecutive matches as a junior and senior whereas capturing back-to-back nationwide titles in 2006 and 2007. The 87 wins in a row ranks within the Top 10 in NCAA historical past. Askren had a profession document of 153-7, together with 93 wins by fall (first in program historical past) and an NCAA document of pinning 18 consecutive opponents within the first interval. In 2006 and 2007, Askren acquired the Dan Hodge Trophy, which is introduced yearly to the highest faculty wrestler and known as the Heisman Trophy of wrestling, and the Wade Schalles Award, introduced yearly to school wrestling’s finest pinner.

He grew to become the primary Missouri wrestler to be a four-time All-American and the primary to compete within the Olympics. Named the Outstanding Wrestler on the 2006 NCAA Championships, Askren was a three-time Big 12 Conference champion and four-time finalist whereas additionally being a four-time Big 12 Conference All-Academic choice. He was a two-time Wisconsin State Champion and a three-time All-American for Arrowhead High School in Hartland, Wisconsin.

Askren teamed up along with his brother, Max Askren, and their highschool wrestling coach, John Mesenbrink, to discovered Askren Wrestling Academy in 2011. It has grown into one of many largest, and a few would argue one of the best, golf equipment in America. AWA has produced 162 Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association state champions and three NCAA Division I champions, Parker Keckeisen, Mitchell Mesenbrink and Tiger Style’s personal Keegan O’Toole.

He underwent a double lung transplant in June of 2025 after being identified with necrotizing pneumonia, a uncommon and extreme model of the sickness that destroys the lungs. Askren was launched from the hospital on July 22 and has been recovering at residence.

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