Askren Wrestling Academy legends Keegan O'Toole, Parker Keckeisen and the 'really cool confluence of events' that created Tuesday's 'War in Wisconsin'

University of Missouri Hall of Famer Ben Askren explains powerful reason behind the CFFC Match Day event: 'Wrestling changes lives'

On Tuesday, the defending Big 12 Champion Missouri Tigers and conference rival University of Northern Iowa Panthers clash in a key early season matchup between two of the top NCAA Division I wrestling programs in the nation, and they'll do so at a unique neutral site thanks in large part to one man: Ben Askren.

The Olympian, two-time NCAA Division I National Champion, and University of Missouri Hall of Famer played a key role in bringing the two programs to Hartland's Arrowhead High School, where Askren graduated and was a two-time state champion wrestler, for "CFFC Match Day: War in Wisconsin," streaming live on UFC FIGHT PASS at 8 p.m. ET.

For Askren, the event serves as an incredible opportunity that he actually envisioned during his own college wrestling career but wasn't able to make a reality despite his pleas to legendary Missouri Wrestling Head Coach Brian Smith, who is currently in his 27th year in charge of the team.

"I love Wisconsin," Askren said. "I loved growing up here, and as a college athlete, I never competed in one match in Wisconsin. As a senior, we actually had four athletes out of the starting lineup – so 40 percent of our starting lineup – from Wisconsin. That was 2007, and I was trying to get Coach Smith to come back home, you know, and we just never made it happen for whatever reason."

Fast forward 17 years, and Askren now finds himself in a unique position. As a co-founder of the Askren Wrestling Academy – alongside his brother and fellow University of Missouri Hall of Famer Max Askren and Wisconsin Wrestling Hall of Famer John Mesenbrink – the 13-year-old program's first two NCAA Division I National Champions are each in their final year of eligibility, and Askren wanted to deliver to his former students the experience he never had for himself.

"Keegan O'Toole has never competed in a dual in Wisconsin, and so the idea was, hey, let's try to see what we could do to make some connections happen so we get to watch him at home," Askren explained. "Then we also have Parker Keckeisen from Northern Iowa, both guys getting national titles. Both guys are seniors, so I just tried to connect some pieces between Coach Smith at Mizzou and WIwrestle and UFC FIGHT PASS, and so I was able to make some connections, and this is so exciting for all the young AWA wrestlers to go to watch these guys compete."

O'Toole, Missouri's two-time national champion who finished third at this past season's NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at 165 pounds, also graduated from Arrowhead High School. Meanwhile, Northern Iowa's Keckeisen is the reigning NCAA Division I National Champion at 184 pounds and grew up 35 miles to the east, attending Glendale's Nicolet High School and competing against O'Toole's team before heading to college.

With both Missouri and Northern Iowa featuring five athletes on each of their respective rosters, the programs granted Askren his wish, and "War in Wisconsin" was born.

"It's just a really cool confluence of events that's allowing this to happen," Askren said. "I would always think, 'What's the chance our club has an NCAA champion?' and for a while it seemed like it was never going to happen. I mean, in the beginning, it seemed like, 'Oh my God, that's so far away,' you know? Now we have two that are both seniors at the same time, and then to be able to get them to kind of wrestle each other – and actually a funny history note: Keegan O'Toole's team beat Parker Keckeisen's team in the Team Sectionals to go to Team State.

"In Southeast Wisconsin, we don't get to see a lot of really high-level Division I college wrestling, so to be able to kind of connect some pieces and get this dual here, it's just so exciting."

Even without Askren's ties to the dual, Tuesday's CFFC Match Day event represents a key clash in this year's Big 12 season. Missouri holds an 11-4 record against Northern Iowa all-time, but it was the Panthers who rolled in their matchup this past February, downing a short-handed Tigers squad 31-6.

Both programs now feature in the top-15 in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association rankings poll, so bragging rights are certainly on the line, and with the event selling out just a few days after it was first announced, the atmosphere will be electric.

For Askren, it's an experience he missed out on during his competition days but one he's honored to deliver for two history-making members of the Askren Wrestling Academy, and hopefully many more to come.

"At this point in my professional career, I want to give a great wrestling experience to as many kids as possible because I know wrestling changes lives," Askren said. "I both saw that in my own life and now in so many people around me. The second portion is that I want to help as many kids as possible be legends of the sport, and we're making them with Keegan and Parker and Mitchell Mesenbrink, and there's a bunch of younger ones coming up that I think are going to turn out to be really, really good also.

"Wrestling does change lives. Once you understand that you can believe in yourself and you can go achieve something, all of a sudden life becomes limitless, right? If I put in the hard work, if I do the right things, I'm going to get a good result. That's a really powerful message for young kids to understand. We want to give great wrestling experiences that keep kids in the sport and show them that power, and then we want to make legends. Keegan and Parker led the charge for us, and hopefully beyond them, it's just legend after legend after legend."