April 13, 2004

Las Vegas, Nev. - Missouri All-American redshirt freshman Ben Askren and Director of Wrestling Operations Scott Schatzman qualified for the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials after finishing among the top-eight wrestlers of their respective weight classes at the U.S. Nationals on Saturday, April 10, in Las Vegas, Nev.

Askren, wrestling freestyle at 84kg (185 pounds), finished seventh with a 3-2 decision over Nate Patrick of the New York Athletic Club (NYAC) and went 7-2 in the four-day tournament at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Opening competition on Wednesday, Askren had three straight wins by technical fall before losing a tight match to third-seeded Brandon Eggum of the Minnesota Storm (5-1). Askren dropped to the consolation round, scoring two falls and a decision. Askren's 31-second pin on Ken Bigley was one second faster than his quickest fall of the 2003-04 season. The Hartland, Wis., native's only other loss of the tournament came to Nick Preston (Sunkist) in an 8-4 decision. Last year, Askren was within one step of qualifying for the U.S. World Team Trials, but fell to Randy Pugh in a 6-0 decision at the U.S. Open.

A three-time All-American while wrestling at Northwestern, Missouri's current Director of Wrestling Operations and law school student Schatzman, finished eighth in the freestyle 60 kg (133 pounds) bracket. Finishing 4-3 at the Championships, Schatzman had three wins by technical fall, the fastest coming in his opening match against Christian Meza of Team Tribe (10-0, 1:57). Schatzman closed out Saturday with a 3-0 loss to 2004 NCAA Champion Zach Roberson of Iowa State (wrestling for Sunkist).

Askren and Schatzman will compete at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, May 21-23, at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Ind. For more information please visit 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials