It should come as no surprise that Ben Askren was sitting in a New York airport waiting to catch a flight home early Monday afternoon.

Askren has been all over the country in the past month, trying to gain as much quality mat time as he can while plunging into freestyle wrestling full-time to start the 2007-08 season.

All the frequent flyer miles Askren has accumulated are starting to pay off.

Askren, who captured his second straight Hodge Trophy last March as college wrestling's outstanding wrestler, already is zeroed in on a much bigger objective at the international level.

"My goal is to be an Olympic champion in 2008 - that hasn't changed," he said. "A lot of people have said that I'm crazy for thinking that way, but I think I can do it."

If the past few weekends provide any indication, Askren's goal doesn't seem all that unrealistic.

The 23-year-old Askren rebounded from a fourth-place finish at last month's Sunkist Kids International Open to win the Hargobind International in Canada the following weekend at 74 kg/163 lbs.

Askren (Columbia, Mo./Sunkist Kids) avenged a semifinal loss to Travis Paulson at Sunkist by beating him in the finals in Canada. He also beat U.S. National Team member Ramico Blackmon along with Canadian World Team member and past NCAA champion Matt Gentry in that event.

This past weekend, Askren swept 2006 World bronze medalist Donny Pritzlaff in the finals of the New York AC Holiday International. Pritzlaff beat Askren in the 2007 U.S. Nationals and 2007 U.S. World Team Trials.

"Those are good wins for me because all those guys are tough wrestlers," Askren said. "I'm not delusional like I've accomplished something big already, because I know I really haven't. Those are good wins, but I still have a long ways to go to reach my goals."

Askren, a four-time NCAA finalist and two-time national champion for Missouri, has long been considered a wrestler with a bright future in freestyle.

The Hartland, Wis., native placed sixth at 84 kg/185 lbs. at the 2004 Olympic Team Trials in Indianapolis. He placed fifth in the 2005 World Team Trials and won the 2005 Pan American Championships.

He spent the last half of his college career focused primarily on folkstyle wrestling during his historic run at Missouri that culminated with his second NCAA title last March in Auburn Hills, Mich.

Askren jumped right into freestyle a few weeks after that win. He nearly upset eventual champion Joe Heskett in the semifinals at April's U.S. Nationals before finishing sixth. Heskett went on to win the U.S. World Team Trials before placing fifth at September's World Championships.

Heskett outlasted Askren 2-3, 5-2, 1-1, rallying to score in the closing seconds of their match. Heskett retired last month because of a heart condition that was discovered shortly after he returned home from the World Championships.

"I lost a nail-biter to Joe Heskett last season and Joe Heskett lost a nail-biter to the World champion from Russia in the semifinals of the World Championships," Askren said. "So I really don't think I'm that far away right now."

With Heskett done wrestling, the top contenders for the U.S. Olympic Team at 74 kilos appear to be 2007 World Team Trials runner-up Casey Cunningham, 2007 Sunkist Kids champion Tyrone Lewis, Askren, Pritzlaff, Blackmon and Travis Paulson.

"This weight class is pretty wide open," said Askren, who placed fifth at the 2007 World Team Trials. "A lot of our guys are hoping they can make a run. Hopefully, by next June I can have it pretty well closed off."

In between recent competitions, Askren also found time to fly to Colorado Springs to train at the U.S. Olympic Training Center.

Returning to freestyle was a major adjustment for Askren. Not only was he switching from folkstyle to freestyle, but the freestyle rules were different than the ones he had competed under in the past. FILA, the international governing body for wrestling, changed the freestyle rules in 2005.

"I was kind of like a fish out of water when I came back to freestyle," Askren said. "The rules changes hurt me a lot. The changes took away my two biggest strengths - my conditioning and my aggressiveness. They negated passivity and that really hurt me when they quit calling that. And then they went to three, two-minute periods. I had to go back to the drawing board and re-evaluate what I was doing.

"I've put in a lot of time and a lot of work to adjust to these new rules. But I obviously still have a lot of work left to do."

Askren also is hoping to gain some international experience by competing overseas sometime early in 2008.

"I could name five things in the next 10 seconds I need to work on," Askren said. "There are so many different areas I need to work on. I am in no way a finished product right now. I've made gigantic leaps since what everybody saw from me at the World Team Trials last year. I'm a lot better wrestler than I was then."

Askren's recent performances have caught the attention of USA Wrestling National Freestyle Coach Kevin Jackson.

"I like Ben - he's a winner, plain and simple," Jackson said. "He finds a way to get it done. He is doing everything he can to get better. Most importantly, he's competing in every event he can. He's attending all the training camps in Colorado Springs as well as coming to Colorado Springs when he is not required to."

Jackson, a 1992 Olympic champion and two-time World champion in freestyle, said Askren has work to do to reach his goals.

"Ben's potential is great," Jackson said. "However he must improve greatly in these two areas - the ability to set up and score a takedown when he wants and when he needs to, and the ability to defend his legs at all times. The best wrestlers in the World will take him down if he cannot defend his legs or if he allows them in on his legs. These are two must-win positions he must improve in if he is going to win at the next level."

When he's not on the road training or competing, Askren also is serving as a volunteer assistant coach for the University of Missouri.

But his big focus is on qualifying for next August's Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

"I remember going to a camp at the 2000 Olympic Trials when I was still in high school," Askren said. "I saw Garrett Lowney, who is also from Wisconsin, make the Olympic Team at age 20 and go on to win a bronze medal at the Olympics. Ever since that moment, the Olympics are something I really, really wanted to do."