For Ben Askren, getting his face on a t-shirt was just the icing on the cake. Last year when he won the NCAA championship wrestling tournament, his friends decided to wear T-Shirts with his picture on the front. The shirts were caught on camera by ESPN and people from all over wanted one for themselves. “I actually made my first prototype. And then before nationals we made t-shirts with funky on them,” Marcus Hoen, a fellow wrestler said about the T-Shirts he created.“I guess last year at the finals when my friends wore those funky t-shirts and they got on ESPN for it. And everyone wanted one, everyone was like 'Where can I get those?'” Askren said. This year, they are bringing back the T-Shirts, but the design will be different. Since this is Askren’s last NCAA wrestling championship before he graduates from Missouri University, the t-shirts will be even more special than they were last year.
“On Saturday after his match, we shouldn't have any trouble because we've already had so many people who we had to turn down for his eligibility. But people have been asking about them, they've been on the message boards nationally,” Hoen said. But they do want people to tune in and watch the meet because it is all about the entrance. For now, the players aren’t talking, but they promise the T-Shirts will be a sight to see.
Shirts will be on sale and will mark the end of a great career for Ben Askren, who has been a star member of the wrestling team for the past four years and will be missed by his team and wrestling fans alike.
(c)Fred Carvalho, www.sxc.hu