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University of Wisconsin-Whitewater senior
Jaritt Shinhoster (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Barrington) recorded one of, if not the best finish by a Division III wrestler in the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships Friday. In the premier tournament featuring 30 teams, mostly Division I squads, Shinhoster finished as the runner-up at 184 pounds after falling to Pittsburgh's Reece Heller 7-5 in the title bout.
The first period was a flurry of action from the opening whistle as Shinhoster shot for a single leg and Heller rolled through. Shinhoster continued to press with a go behind, nearly registering the takedown but Heller turned defense into offense taking a single leg for a takedown and the first two points of the match just seconds later. Shinhoster got up and out for the one point escape. Late in the first period, Shinhoster grabbed a single leg and had Heller stretched out but the flexibility of his opponent led to a stalemate with no points awarded and the wrestlers went into the second period with Heller leading 2-1.
Shinhoster had the top position to start and Heller was able to escape to extend the lead 3-1. Shinhoster went to one of his best moves, the slide by, taking Heller down and nearly grabbing back points. With the takedown, he knotted the match 3-3 and started to register riding time.
Another late flurry of action led to a reversal for Heller as Shinhoster had tried to turn him to his back had Pitt regaining the lead 5-3.
Starting the third on the bottom, Shinhoster registered the quick escape to pull to within 5-4. He pushed the pace with a great double leg shot but once again Heller rolled through. Heller countered a late shot by Shinhoster and secured the trip for another takedown and the 7-4. Shinhoster tallied the escape to make it 7-5. Another double leg shot was warded off by Heller followed by a single leg that Shinhoster took to a stalemate. With just eight seconds remaining on the restart, Heller circled to run down the clock for the final.
Shinhoster wrapped up a fantastic tournament going 4-1 against all Division I opponents. After receiving a first round bye as the number five seed, Shinhoster registered a 6-0 decision over JT Davis (unattached-Lehigh) before pinning Matt Zuber of Northern Illinois in 4:26. In the quarterfinals he defeated Virginia's Neil Antrassian by 7-3 decision. Shinhoster advanced to the final with 7-0 decision over top-seeded Brian Soldano of Rutgers.
Bolstered by Shinhoster's phenomenal tournament and a pair of
Jake Burford (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point) wins Thursday, the Warhawks finished 19th in the team standings. In total, five Warhawks represented UW-Whitewater at the 58th Annual Midlands this season as
Dakarai Clay (Madison, Wis./Madison East),
Ryan Riser (Bloomingdale, Ill./Lake Park) and
Ryan Vedner (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect) joined Shinhoster and Burford on the mats Thursday. The top five teams were Northwestern, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Wisconsin and Illinois.
Friday Session I Recap
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater senior
Jaritt Shinhoster (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Barrington) has advance to the championship bout at 184 pounds in the 58th Annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships hosted by Northwestern University. The renowned tournament is considered the most prestigious non-conference wrestling tournament in the nation. A majority of the 30 teams participating in the tournament compete at the NCAA Division I level including powerhouses like Wisconsin, Missouri, Northwestern, Pittsburgh and Arizona State among others.
Shinhoster, the defending Division III national champion currently ranked second at 184 pounds, handily defeated twelfth-ranked at the Division I level Brian Soldano of Rutgers in the semifinal early Friday afternoon. Shinhoster registered a quick double leg takedown early in the first and compiled over two minutes of riding time by the end of the first period.
Starting the second in the bottom position, Shinhoster got up and out for the escape and a 3-0 lead. The senior sized up Soldano with a fantastic slide by into a bear hug for another takedown and a 5-0 advantage heading into the final period.
Shinhoster opted for the down position getting a quick point on the escape. Despite a stalling warning with less than 40 seconds to go, Shinhoster held Soldano at bay and picked up the extra point from riding time for a 7-0 decision to punch his ticket into the championship match.
The final session at the Midlands Championships is slated to begin at 6 p.m. Friday evening with championship bouts in weight class order. Shinhoster's opponent is the #2 seed Reece Heller of Pittsburgh.
Heller is a redshirt junior transfer from Hofstra in his first season with Pittsburgh.
Thursday Recap
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is represented by five Warhawks competing in the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships hosted by the Northwestern University this week. After the second round of competition,
Jaritt Shinhoster (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Barrington) has advanced to the semifinals in the 184-pound bracket. The renowned tournament, considered the most prestigious non-conference wrestling tournament in the nation, features 30 teams with a majority coming from NCAA Division I including powerhouses like Wisconsin, Missouri, Northwestern, Pittsburgh and Arizona State among others.
*All rankings listed below are from The Open Mat.
Shinhoster, ranked second at 184 pounds, received a first round bye as the number five seed in the weight class. He opened his day with a 6-0 decision over JT Davis (Unattached-Lehigh) before pinning Northern Illinois' Matt Zuber in 4:26 to setup his quarterfinal bout against fourth-seeded at 20th-ranked in Division I Neil Antrassian of Virginia.
Shinhoster registered a takedown and Antrassian countered with an escape to go into the second period with UWW holding a 2-1 lead. Shinhoster deferred and Antrassian opted for the bottom position. Antrassian evened the bout with a reversal in the period while Shinhoster was credited with an escape. With Shinhoster starting in the bottom position in the final period, he picked up a point via stalling penalty to take a 4-3 lead followed quickly by an escape. Ten seconds later Shinhoster registered a takedown for the 7-3 decision to punch his ticket to the semifinals.
The defending 184-pound Division III national champion will take on top-seeded and 13th ranked Brian Soldano of Rutgers Friday morning in a semifinal.
Jake Burford (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point) also had a fantastic start to the 58th annual Midlands. Ranked seventh in Division III at 149 pounds, Burford defeated Northwestern's Jamie Berg by major decision 8-0. In the second round he took down Joel Mylin of Missouri by 2-0 decision. Burford dropped the consolation side of the bracket with a 16-5 major decision loss to top-seeded and fifth-ranked Kyle Parco of Arizona State in his third match of the day. He finished the day 2-2 after falling to Harvard's Jack Crook by 8-2 decision.
Dakarai Clay (Madison, Wis./Madison East) had the toughest draw for the Warhawks Thursday opening against top-seeded Cole Matthews of Pittsburgh. He fell to Matthews, ranked second at 141 pounds in Division I, by 4-3 decision. Clay dropped his second bout of the day to Pennsylvania's Jackson Polo by 8-7 decision.
At 165 pounds,
Ryan Vedner (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect), ranked ninth in Division III, fell by major decision, 8-0, to Luke Gayer of Rutgers. His second bout of the day was a loss by 8-3 decision to North Carolina State's Derek Fields.
Ryan Riser (Bloomingdale, Ill./Lake Park), ranked 16th at 174 pounds, also went 0-2 Thursday. His first bout resulted in a 7-2 decision to Alex Cramer of Central Michigan followed by an 11-3 major decision to Virginia's Justin Phillips.
The night session Thursday is slated to feature quarterfinal action and wrestlebacks beginning at 7 p.m. The third session, scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Friday, will include semifinal bouts, consolation and seventh-place matches. First, third and fifth place matches will begin at 6:05 p.m. Friday.
