USA Wrestling has updated its new "Bout of the Week" which has been posted as a video file on-line on  TheMat.com Audio/Video website .

The featured match this week is the 2007 Donny Pritzlaff vs. Ben Askren quarterfinals match in men's freestyle wrestling at 74 kg/163 lbs. at the United States Marine Corps U.S. World Team Trials in Las Vegas, Nev.

This battle was in the quarterfinals of the Challenge Tournament, a contest between proven veteran and past World medalist, Pritzlaff, and one of the most promising young talents coming from the college ranks, Askren. Neither of these athletes ended up making the U.S. team, but both are expected to be challengers heading into the Olympic year. 

Both wrestlers had tremendous wrestling success in high school and went on to very successful college careers. Both have always had high goals of achievement at the Olympic levels. Pritzlaff, who competes for the New York AC, was 28 years old and Askren, a member of the Sunkist Kids, was 22 at the time of this bout.

Pritzlaff was a high school star in New Jersey, winning three state high school titles. He went on to the Univ. of Wisconsin, where he captured a pair of NCAA titles in 2000 and 2001 and was a four-time All-American competing for two-time Olympian Barry Davis. During his college days, he reached the highest level of age-group achievement, winning a Junior World freestyle title in 1998.

After college, it took a number of years for Pritzlaff to reach the top of the game on the national and international freestyle scene. Joe Williams, a two-time World medalist and 2004 Olympian, was in his weight class. Pritzlaff also battled back and forth with long-time college rival Joe Heskett, as well as a number of other talented U.S. athletes in his weight class. Prior to his breakthrough, his highest ranking at the World Team Trials was third in 2002 and 2005.

The 2006 season for Pritzlaff showed that all the hard work and persistence had paid off. He won his first U.S. Senior Nationals title, beating Williams in the gold-medal finals in Las Vegas. At the World Team Trials, Pritzlaff knocked off young talent Tyrone Lewis in a fierce, three-match finals series in Sioux City, Iowa. Competing at his first Senior World Championships in Guangzhou, China, Pritzlaff wrestled with toughness and confidence and won a World bronze medal. 

Askren was a high school star in Wisconsin, capturing a pair of state high school titles and winning the Junior Nationals double  title. During his prep day, Askren already had developed a flair in his wrestling, with his long hair and wide-open, high-scoring style. 

He decided to attend the Univ. of Missouri, a Big 12 school coached by Brian Smith that was working to build their program. Under Askren's leadership, the team burst into the national rankings, and Askren became a popular star. He made the NCAA gold-medal finals all four years of his career, taking second place as a freshman and sophomore, and winning NCAA titles as a junior and senior in 2006 and 2007. Askren captured attention for his pinning abilities and his dominance on the mat, and for his colorful personality off the mat. He won the Hodge Trophy as the top college wrestler in the nation his final two years at Missouri. All during college, Askren also entered Senior freestyle events, qualifying for the World Team Trials and placing at the Senior Nationals a number of times.

Now that Askren had completed his college career, his focus had turned completely to freestyle wrestling. A 174-pounder in college, Askren made the move down in weight to 163 pounds, rather than staying up at 185 pounds. At the 2007 U.S. Nationals, both wrestlers fell short of their goals, with Pritzlaff placing third and Askren finishing in sixth. Pritzlaff defeated Askren, 2-0, 7-0 in the consolation semifinals of that event. The U.S. Nationals champion was Heskett, who was putting together his best season on the international level.

At the World Team Trials in Las Vegas, Pritzlaff and Askren met in the Challenge Tournament quarterfinals. Once again, it was the veteran Pritzlaff stopping Askren, this time by a 2-0, 3-1 margin.

Pritzlaff was defeated in the semifinals by another crafty veteran, Casey Cunningham, who went on to the finals where he was beaten by Heskett. Askren was beaten in the consolation rounds by another talented veteran, Ramico Blackmon, who also beat Pritzlaff in the third-place bout.

This popular feature will be changed on a regular basis, allowing members to enjoy many of the greatest matches in wrestling history. Posted in the archive section of the Members Only web page was the the 2007 Doug Schwab vs. Chris Bono championship series match in men's freestyle wrestling at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. at the United States Marine Corps U.S. World Team Trials in Las Vegas, Nev. Many other entertaining and historic matches are in the archive section for the Bout of the Week.