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The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater wrestling team begins the 2021-22 regular season this Wednesday as it hosts Division II Parkside for a dual at Kachel Gymnasium.
 
The Warhawks are coming off a pandemic-shortened 2020-21 campaign, when they wrestled four duals against Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponents, posting a 3-1 record. In 2019-20, the team's most recent full regular season, UW-W finished second in the WIAC and third at the NCAA Upper Midwest Regional, and qualified four wrestlers for the NCAA Championship, which was canceled due to the pandemic.
 
Following Wednesday's dual against Parkside, UW-Whitewater travels to Adrian, Mich., for the Adrian College Duals on Nov. 13. The team continues tournament action Nov. 20 at the CUW Open in Mequon and on Dec. 4 at the MSOE Invite in Milwaukee and the Parkside Open in Kenosha.
 
The Warhawks visit UW-Eau Claire Dec. 8 for their first WIAC dual, then host UW-Oshkosh for another conference dual two days later on Dec. 10. The team wraps up the calendar year at the North Central Invite on Dec. 11 in Naperville, Ill.
 
UW-W kicks off the new year Jan. 6-7 at the National Wrestling Coaches Association Duals in Louisville, Ky. The team visits UW-La Crosse for a conference dual Jan. 13, then heads to Elmhurst's Al Hanke Invite on Jan. 15.
 
UW-Whitewater hosts UW-Platteville for a WIAC dual on Jan. 19, then heads to UW-Stevens Point for a dual on Jan. 21.
 
The Warhawks close the month the weekend of Jan. 28-29 with the two-day Pete Willson-Wheaton Invitational and the one-day Harper Open on the 29th.
 
UW-W competes at UW-Eau Claire's Don Parker Open Feb. 5 before starting the postseason Feb. 12 at the WIAC Championship in Oshkosh.
 
The NCAA Upper Midwest Regional is slated for Feb. 25-26 at a location to be determined, and the NCAA Championship is set for March 11-12 at U.S. Cellular Arena in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
 
Head coach Matt Zwaschka, who enters his fourth year at the helm of the program, returns a strong core of veterans and a number of gifted underclassmen.
 
Cadin Koeppel (Cary, Ill./Cary-Grove), Jaritt Shinhoster (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Barrington) and Ryan Vedner (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect) each enter their fourth seasons with the program.
 
Shinhoster is a two-time NCAA Championship qualifier for his career, and was named an All-American in 2020 following the cancelation of the national tournament due to the pandemic. He is a two-time NCAA Upper Midwest Regional runner-up, and was the WIAC champion at 174 pounds in 2020.
 
Last season, Shinhoster posted a 3-1 record with one pin and two major decisions at 174 pounds, and was fifth in the final D3wrestle.com Rankings of the season. A three-year NWCA Scholar All-American, Shinhoster is ranked fourth in the nation at 174 pounds by D3wrestle.com and sixth at 184 pounds by the NWCA entering the 2021-22 campaign.
 
Vedner placed sixth in the WIAC at 165 pounds as a freshman in 2019, and posted a 2-2 mark at the Upper Midwest Regional in 2020. Last season, the NWCA Scholar All-American finished with a 3-2 record with one major decision and was listed as a "Contender" by D3wrestle.com at 184 pounds in the website's final rankings. He is listed in the "Honorable Mention" category entering the season.
 
Koeppel collected three wins, including one pin and one major decision, in four matches at 285 pounds in 2020-21. He finished a combined 34-22 and competed in a pair of conference tournaments over his first two collegiate seasons. Koeppel is listed in D3wrestle.com's "Honorable Mention" category entering the season.
 
Jake Burford (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point) headlines a deep junior class for UW-Whitewater.
 
Burford, who joined the program midway through the 2019-20 season, broke out in 2020-21 with a 4-0 record, including two major decisions, and a final D3wrestle.com ranking of No. 8 at 149 pounds. He finished third in the conference and seventh at the regional tournament at 157 pounds as a freshman.
 
Burford, a 2020-21 NWCA Scholar All-American, enters the new season ranked eighth by the NWCA and as a "Contender" by D3wrestle.com at 149 pounds.
 
Other returning juniors include Dakarai Clay (Madison, Wis./Madison East), Tommy Hoy (Wauconda, Ill./Carmel Catholic), Hayden Krein (Sparta, Wis./Sparta), Josiah Lynden (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago), Griffin McEnroe (Itasca, Ill./Elk Grove), Matt McEnroe (Itasca, Ill./Elk Grove), Josh Nowak (Dousman, Wis./Kettle Moraine) and Alex Valenzona (Chicago, Ill./Notre Dame College Prep).
 
Clay, who is listed in the D3wrestle.com "Honorable Mention" section at 141 pounds, finished 1-1 last year after being named the team's Newcomer of the Year in 2019-20, while Hoy (165), also listed in the "Honorable Mention" category, collected one win in three matches last season. Lynden (133) tallied a 3-2 record in 2020-21 after registering eight wins in his debut campaign.
 
Nowak (197) generated a 2-2 mark last winter, moving up a weight class after finishing 9-16 as a freshman. Valenzona (149) is 5-11 over his two years as a Warhawk.
 
Griffin McEnroe (Itasca, Ill./Elk Grove), who competes at 125 pounds, and Matt McEnroe (Itasca, Ill./Elk Grove), a 133-pounder, combined to wrestle eight matches last season.
 
Second-year returners include Alex Barbarise (Antioch, Ill./Antioch Community), John Fortugno (Armonk, N.Y./Byram Hills), Jerred Grell (Woodstock, Ill./Woodstock), Shelby Jones (Dodgeville, Wis./Dodgeville), Jakub Maciorowski (Carol Stream, Ill./Glenbard West), Isaiah Mohmed (Valparaiso, Ind./Wheeler), Drew Nash (Lemont, Ill./Lemont Township), Ethan Pogorzelski (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls), Chad Richards (Loves Park, Ill./Harlem) and Caleb Smith (Mount Prospect, Ill./Prospect).
 
Barbarise and Pogorzelski are listed in the "Honorable Mention" sections by D3wrestle.com at 125 and 133 pounds, respectively. Barbarise, a 2020-21 NWCA Scholar All-American, was 3-1 last season. Pogorzelski, the 2020-21 WIAC Newcomer of the Year and a Scholar All-American, finished 3-2 last season.
 
Richards (174) recorded pins in all three of his victories last season. Maciorowski (197) tallied a 1-3 record in 2020-21, and Grell finished 1-4 at the same weight class.
 
Mohmed wrestled in two matches at 157 last winter, and Fortugno and Jones wrestled in one apiece at 125 and 285, respectively.
 
Newcomers to the program include freshmen Buddy Evangelista (Wheaton, Ill./North), Tyler Klein (Hartford, Wis./Hartford Union), Nick Klug (Weston, Wis./D.C. Everest), Ty Miller (Waunakee, Wis./Waunakee), Shane Piper (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park), Simon Rillie (Stockton, Ill./Stockton), Ryan Riser (Bloomingdale, Ill./Lake Park) and Brayten Wilkerson (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb).