#54: Askren’s Beat the Streets Recap

New Wrestling DataOn this episode, Ben Askren and Matt Dernlan talk about Beat the Streets, as well as all the exciting upcoming events surrounding the podcast. Askren starts off with the news that he along with a handful of wrestlers from Askren Wrestling Academy have finished collecting data from the U.S. Open Wrestling Championships. Dernlan is surprised when Askren says that are a lot of similarities in the numbers when you compare the new data to the 2018 World Championships data. He thought there would be drastic differences in certain areas when comparing an international tournament to a domestic one. One interesting difference was under defensive scores, down block go behind went from being the number one at Worlds to number four at the Open. Another point brought up is if in the future they can breakdown the data round by round to see how techniques change from the level of competition being faced.Kayla Miracle (6:05)4x WCWA National Champ and 3x U.S. Open Champ Kayla Miracle stopped by Columbus before heading down to Dallas for the U23 Team Trials. Miracle has an extremely busy upcoming schedule. She will compete at the U23 Trials then the Senior World Trials, and then Final X.Giving Back (8:39)Dernlan gives his respects to Askren for using his platform to help grow the sport and bring a lot of eyes to a great cause that is Beat the Streets. Askren had every reason not to compete including being in the middle of training camp for his upcoming UFC fight but he chose to dedicate his time to shine a light on the sport of wrestling. Askren elaborates on his quick speech after the Jordan Burroughs match when he talked about supporting not only Beat the Streets but all of wrestling because it changes lives. Askren talks about all the ways wrestling can have an amazing influence on a young person. One example is having something in your life that challenges you and forces you to be better than you already are. Askren talks about how much wrestling has done for him and his life and that is the reason why he feels it is so important to give back.Beat the Streets (19:42)Breaking down the event Askren brings up the electricity in the air when Yianni Diakomihalis took on Bajrang Punia. He feels like you could replicate that energy every year if you did nation vs nation, for example, USA vs Russia. Another point is that this event showed beyond a few upsets that it really takes some time to develop at the senior level to rise to that elite status. Another impressive showing at BTS was from Jack Mueller. Mueller put on a clinic against Nick Piccininni winning 10-0. Mueller is qualified for the World Team Trials for being last year’s U23 world team member. The last match they breakdown is James Green vs Anthony Ashnault. It looked like to Dernlan that James Green had motivation due to the expectations of a competitive match that came from Ashnault dominating at the Pan American Championships.Nick Suriano vs Joe Colon (36:58)2019 NCAA Champ Suriano beats World Bronze Medalist Colon 3-1. Dernlan breaks down Colon’s game and how Suriano’s defensive style didn’t allow for Colon to execute where he’s best at. The question before Beat the Streets was how good is Suriano at Freestyle and while that question isn’t fully answered, he looked really good and it poses the next question will we see Suriano at World Team Trials? Askren doesn’t know why Suriano wouldn’t. He has beaten Daton Fix who he would face if he drops to 57 kg and now he has beaten Joe Colon if he decides to stay at 61 kg.David Taylor (42:44)31 seconds into his match against Drew Foster, Taylor suffers an injury and is forced to injury default in order to not cause any further damage. Everyone is hoping the injury was not serious and Taylor can continue his dominance at Final X. Dernlan talks about how the end goal is next years Olympics so if he has to forgo the 2019 Worlds in order to get healthy and compete for Olympic Gold he’s sure he would. Overall it was very unfortunate.J’Den Cox vs Patrick Brucki (45:26)Dernlan talks about how Cox might be one of the most under-appreciated wrestlers in the world. He is one of the best wrestlers to come out of the United States in recent years and has a resume that can stand up to anyones. On top of all of that he’s only 24 years old.Yianni Diakomihalis (48:26)It’s crazy to think about the last 8 weeks Diakomihalis has had winning an NCAA Championship, U.S. Open Championship, and beating one of the best wrestlers in the world at Beat the Streets. Askren and Dernlan discuss the levels Diakomihalis has already grown and to think he’s only 20 years old is amazing.