Ben Askren Sets Off to Wrestling World Team Trials

Bellator finalist Ben Askren continues his double shift this weekend in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he will look to win the 2010 USA Wrestling World Team Trials.

Askren will have to compete in the mini-tournament, a preliminary in which he faces the U.S. National Champion, before he makes the world team. 

Should Askren emerge from the mini-tournament, which features several wrestlers who have beaten him in the past, he will face the University of Wisconsin's sophomore national champion Andrew Howe.

Howe, a native of Indiana, won the U.S. national tournament by beating twins Trent and Travis Paulson in back-to-back matches.

Askren, the 2008 Olympian at 74kg, hasn't strapped on his wrestling shoes for a wrestling tournament in quite some time. Yet he remains heavily favored to win the event, despite having to take the long road to the title.

TheWrestlingTalk.com will be carrying a live feed of all competition from the World Team Trials, provided by USA Wrestling, in their video library.

Askren has taken time off from wrestling to compete in MMA through the Bellator promotion.  He is undefeated in his limited MMA career and looks to take home a $100,000 purse from the Bellator Championship event.