Askren or Taylor - who had the better career?

[WillieBoy 713]

Both could not get past the one big stud in their weight.

 

Both had impressive and excellent careers.

 

Askren was 153-8 with 91 falls.

 

Taylor was 134-3 with 53 falls. His team won 4 NCAA titles while he was on it.

 

Both helped bring mediocre wrestling schools to prominence.

 

Both had two 2nd place finishes at the NCAA tournament and two Titles.

 

Who had the better collegiate career?

[headshuck 2,308]

Askren going up to 184 to beat Kish to try to win a national dual matches with Minnesota was impressive.

[Cletus_Tucker 890]

Interesting topic. 

 

I do't believe either had a better career.   They had just about as equal careers as you could possibly imagine. 

 

Askren was more dominant with pins.  Taylor didn't lose as much.   

[MSU158 1,615]

In Askren's defense 7 of his 8 losses were to Pendleton.  He did have a win over Pendleton.  If Taylor wrestled Dake 8 times he would have as many or more losses as Askren.  Although it is truly very hard to put one over the other it is worth mentioning that Askren had wins over Pendleton, Herbert and Gavin.  He also placed ahead of Perry and Luke.  That is a total of 8 NCAA DI Championships and 12 Finals appearances.  In contrast, Taylor beat, or placed ahead of, 1 NCAA Champion(Derek St. John).

[headshuck 2,308]

Cue the flying tiger...

[unbiased 462]

If any of Pendleton's, Herbert's, or Gavin's accolades came after Askren graduated, how is it relevant?

[MSU158 1,615]

First off, Pendleton's accolades OBVIOUSLY did not come after Askren graduated.  Second, overall success is a measure of the talent of the wrestler as a whole.  I never said it was the only metric.  Also, even though I pointed the accolades out, I still prefaced the statement by saying it is still not easy to put one over the other.  Which essentially meant it was an interesting fact to point out, but may not be enough to truly argue one over the other.  It may in fact be true that Herbert and Gavin improved drastically after they wrestled Askren.  Even if that is what happened, it is still interesting that none of Taylor's opponents did the same..................

[unbiased 462]

Understood. I was just interested in your opinion about my question. I think their careers are similar in many aspects and I do not favor one over the other.

Edited August 10, 2015 by unbiased

[LemonPie 1,368]

Dake is so much better than Pendleton

[headshuck 2,308]

I think I read that Asken beat Pendleton at least once?

[Frank_Rizzo 333]

Both were great college wrestlers, but Askren was clearly more dominant.  Plus, he was on the Olympic team a year after college. 

Edited August 10, 2015 by Frank_Rizzo

[MSU158 1,615]

LemonPie,

 

I would agree that Dake's overall career is better than Pendleton's.  However, Pendleton was really, really good his junior and senior seasons.  It would be very hard to argue which wrestler was better their last 2 seasons.  Also, if Dake had to wrestle Taylor 8 times over his last 2 seasons, would it be a guarantee he wins all 8?

[Cletus_Tucker 890]

Both were great college wrestlers, but Askren was clearly more dominant.  Plus, he was on the Olympic team a year after college. 

 

 

Lets also keep in mind Taylor had Burroughs in his path to making world/Olympic teams right after college.   I don't believe Askren makes any team if Burroughs is in his way. 

[ArmDrag14 64]

This is one of the better debates I've seen. Both 4x finalist. DT having the team titles, but Askren was essential to the resurrection of Mizzou wrestling. DT only having three losses. Askren only losing to two guys. I think I would have to give the edge to Askren though. He absolutely dominated his final two years, beating some studs along the way. I know we discuss "how good they were at the time" but Gavin. Herbert. Herbert was an absolute beast, losing only to Askren that year. Great comparison.

[silver-medal 670]

No dog in this fight.  My pick would be Askren because he was even more dangerous than Taylor.  Taylor overwhelmed his competition with slick, fluid technique but Askren was able to beat the holy hell out of a very fine Jake Herbert (among others) because he was so dangerous is so many situations. 

[JerseyJoey 25]

Askren. The team title thing isn't that big a deal to me when evaluating an individual wrestlers career, and you could argue that Askren meant least to much to Mizzou as Taylor did to PSU.

 

Yes, Askren never wrestled someone as good as Dake. But Pendleton was certainly much better than Bubba, and Askren was more dominant. Both great careers

[TBar1977 3,953]

People keep saying Askren was part of the resurrection at Missouri, but Taylor not only helped resurrect Penn State he also helped them win 4 NCAA titles. They say Askren only lost to two guys, well Taylor only lost to two guys as well. Plus Taylor had 5 fewer losses.

 

Both were great wrestlers. Askren is more jaded on Twitter, though. lol. 

[hammerlockthree 2,084]

askren by a lot

[ArmDrag14 64]

If I had to bet money Cael and company helped. Baha. The best college wrestler of all time is of course going to get better recruits. Who did Askren have? Chandler, Woodley, Pell?

[hammerlockthree 2,084]

When Herbert SMASHES taylor we'll have an insight...

[wrestlingnerd 2,776]

Askren, but I don't think it's as big a gap as some think. If Dake doesn't move up his senior year (and yes, that IS a legitimate "if" because Dake certainly did not have to go up), most would give it to DT because of the extra title, which he would've won by bonus to cap off one of the most dominant runs in NCAA history that year, pinning his way into the finals.

 

If impact to team is the key criterion, it's DT, easy but that's not a fair criterion since PSU had a phenomenal team that could easily be called one of the handful of best ever.

[Bloate 61]

Image from http://static.fjcdn.com/comments/Hurry+team+afro+jewfro+blackfro+_7635ab688cbad4f84909760334bbee3b.jpg.

Askrin by a hair

Edited August 11, 2015 by Bloate

[lil_red 1]

Team champs or not Askren had more of an impact on Mizzou than Taylor at PSU.  PSU was going to be good and compete for a title with or without Taylor.  PSU might not win 4 in a row but I bet they win 1 or 2. 

 

Mizzou's transformation since the time Askren was on campus to now is truly amazing.  Askren is a pioneer at Mizzou. 

[wrestlingnerd 2,776]

Team champs or not Askren had more of an impact on Mizzou than Taylor at PSU. PSU was going to be good and compete for a title with or without Taylor. PSU might not win 4 in a row but I bet they win 1 or 2.

 

Mizzou's transformation since the time Askren was on campus to now is truly amazing. Askren is a pioneer at Mizzou.

With all due respect to Askren, one of my all-time favorites, that had a lot more to do with Brian Smith and Sammie Henson than Askren. Edited August 11, 2015 by wrestlingnerd

[Plasmodium 1,693]

With all due respect to Askren, one of my all-time favorites, that had a lot more to do with Brian Smith and Sammie Henson than Askren.

Agreed.  Not being a smart arse -- One of the best things they did was successfully recruit Askren.   

 

 

Askren was absolutely great for college wrestling.  He had awesome skill, aggression(way better pinner than DT), hair, charisma, personality, a big mouth and a style all his own.  We need a lot more wrestlers like him.   I enjoyed his career very much.