Brother's Memory Sparks Kent City Champ
March 7, 2015
By Butch Harmon
Special for Second Half
AUBURN HILLS – For Kent City senior Shane Rodenburg, winning this year’s MHSAA Finals title was not something he was doing just for himself.
He also was taking the mat with his younger brother Brendon in his heart.
Brendon, only 16, died unexpectedly Sept. 22. Bringing a 58-0 record into his 171-pound Division 4 title match against Nick Cooper of Springport, Shane Rodenburg capped off a year of wrestling that he will never forget by outlasting Cooper for a 3-0 decision.
“I don’t know what to say,” Rodenburg said, “just that this is the greatest day of my life so far. I’ve went through a lot of adversity this year, and it is such a great feeling to win it.”
Rodenburg was a three-time Finals placer coming into this weekend, having finished fifth as a freshman, third as a sophomore and second last year. Last year’s second-place finish was a special one for Rodenburg as Brendon also made it to the medal stand, finishing sixth at 140 pounds as a sophomore.
“This title was for him,” Shane said. “I’ve always wanted to be a state champion. This one was just not for me. He was with me, and it’s for him too. This is pretty special. It feels real good.”
103
Champion: Seth Harvey, Addison, Soph. (49-7)
Decision, 5-2, over Anthony Mack, Dansville, Fr. (49-3)
An early takedown paved the way for Harvey, who took the early lead and made it hold for the victory.
“It feels like I’m on cloud nine,” Harvey said, “maybe even higher than that. Getting that first takedown was big.”
After securing the takedown, Harvey built on the lead with a three-point near-fall as he utilized a cradle to get the three points.
“I’ve been working on my cradle a lot in practice,” Harvey said. “I’ve had a lot of help from my coaches and teammates. I’ve had some problems with it and the extra work paid off.”
112
Champion: Alex Baker, Carson City-Crystal, Sr. (30-5)
Fall, 6:45, over Robert LeFevre, Erie-Mason, Soph. (26-3)
For Baker, a senior, winning an MHSAA title came with other benefits. Like a 2014 Chevy Cruze.
“At the start of the season my grandpa (Joseph Nagel) told me he would buy me a car if I won a state title,” Baker said. “My grandpa is my idol. He is a person who has come from nothing and has proven you can accomplish anything in life. I want to be just like my grandpa.”
Baker’s grandpa couldn’t be prouder of what his grandson accomplished. Not only did he win a title, but he did it in thrilling fashion with a fall in overtime.
Like his grandfather, Baker also proved that you can accomplish anything with hard work and desire. While he has qualified for the Finals the last two years, he had yet to win a match at the tournament prior to this year.
“I’ve come a long way,” Baker said. “I just worked real hard, and I got stronger. This last two weeks I worked my butt off getting ready for this. Winning the state title is pretty wild.”’
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Champion: Logan Griffin, Erie-Mason, Sr. (42-0)
Decision, 8-2, over Ethan Woods, Manchester, Soph. (43-9)
For Griffin, it was the perfect way to wrap up a season. Not only did the Erie-Mason senior win a third MHSAA title, but he also finished the season with a perfect record.
“It’s just amazing,” Griffin said. “It’s a great feeling to win it three times.”
Griffin jumped out to an early lead and never looked back as he won his final high school match to finish his career with a 157-7 record. Griffin will continue his wrestling career at Michigan State University next season.
“This is one of the happiest moments in my life,” Griffin said. “It was a little more pressure winning it this year. My first year winning it I had a shoulder injury. This year I was healthy, and if felt great.”
125
Champion: Dallas O’Green, Carson City-Crystal, Jr. (58-1)
Decision, 2-0, over Clay Ragon, Dansville, Jr. (53-5)
O’Green scored a pair of points in the second period, and that was all he needed.
“My key was not to let him get out of bounds,” O’Green said. “I just tried to keep him in the middle of the mat.”
O’Green won the first of three titles earned by Carson City-Crystal wrestlers on the day.
“We just work so hard in practice,” O’Green said. “Every practice we just go in there and work hard. It feels great to see all that hard work pay off.”
130
Champion: Dresden Simon, Dansville, Jr. (58-0)
Decision, 3-2, over Lamont Cannon, Highland Park, Sr. (26-2)
Simon was pushed to the brink but held on to not only win a championship but finish the season with an undefeated record. Up 3-2, Simon survived a late takedown attempt by Cannon to clinch the title.
“It was a little too close for comfort at the end,” Simon said. “I thought I outwrestled him throughout the match, but he was able to keep it close.”
Winning for his school also was meaningful for Simon.
“Winning the state title is pretty special,” Simon said. “We don’t get many state champions coming through Dansville.”
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Champion: Kyle Barkovich, Lawton, Sr. (55-2)
Fall, 5:18, over Gerrit Yates, Hesperia, Fr. (51-4)
Time was running out for Barkovich, who needed some late dramatics to finish his high school career with a win in his final match.
Trailing Yates 8-4, Barkovich recorded a pin with less than a minute remaining.
“I was sweating it,” Barkovich said. “(Yates) was wrestling well, and I knew I was running out of time. I knew I had to do something fast. I got a left underhook to a headlock and took him down. It couldn’t be a better feeling (winning a title).”
140
Champion Cole Menck, Lawton, Sr. (53-2)
Decision, 3-2, over Trenton Roesly, Hesperia, Sr. (39-6)
Menck followed his teammate Barkovich on the mat and came away with a second straight title for Lawton. Like Barkovich, Menck also won a tight match over a Hesperia wrestler.
“That last escape won it,” Menck said. “There was about 30 seconds left in the match, and I knew I had to score.”
The win was extra special for Menck, one of three Lawton wrestlers who came away with championships.
“It means a lot to our program,” Menck said. “Hopefully this will pull some more kids into the program. We are graduating eight or nine seniors this year.”
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Champion: Steven Garza, New Lothrop, Jr. (42-0)
Decision, 7-2, over Mason Lopinski, Hudson, Jr. (39-7)
Garza and Lopinski were no strangers, having met in last weekend’s Division 4 Team Final in Battle Creek. Garza came out with a win last weekend, and he claimed the win again this weekend to earn his first individual title.
“Last week I was wrestling for the team,” Garza said. “I was trying to get bonus points to help our team. This week I was wrestling for myself. I didn’t have to try for bonus points, so I didn’t have to try anything crazy.”
Not only did Garza win team and individual MHSAA championships this season, he also ended the year with a perfect record.
“Winning the title by myself is nice,” Garza said, “but the team title was more important. We are all united like a family at the team state.”
152
Champion: Hunter Bell, Decatur, Sr. (58-1)
Decision, 10-4 over Darren Decker, Carson City-Crystal, Sr. (56-3)
Bell knew the question was coming, but this time it had to feel a little bit better.
Bell, whose older brother Luke won three MHSAA championships for Decatur from 2010-12, finally joined Luke with a title of his own.
“The first question was not what I wanted to answer,” Bell said. “Every time I win something, the first question is always about my brother winning also. This feels good. I’ve been working hard for this but have come up short the last couple of years.”
160
Champion: Dillen Decker, Carson City-Crystal, Sr. (58-0)
Decision, 15-6, over Joey Durham, Blanchard Montabella, Sr. (48-5)
After watching his twin brother Darren come up short in the previous match, Dillen Decker was on a mission when he hit the mat at 160 pounds.
“I was fired up a little bit,” Decker said. “We’ve been wrestling together since the third grade. We just fell in love with the sport. After seeing his match, I was just fired up to get out there.”
The win capped an undefeated season for Decker, who was one of three Carson City-Crystal wrestlers to claim MHSAA titles.
“This feels good,” Decker said. “I put a lot of hard work into this. I placed third as a sophomore and fourth as a junior, so I really wanted this.”
189
Champion: Brody Conner, Lawton, Sr. (58-0)
Decision, 4-2, over Caleb Symons, New Lothrop, Jr. (49-2)
Conner gave Lawton its third individual title of the day when he held off Symons 4-2. Trailing 2-1 at the end of the first period, Conner scored three points during the second to claim the win.
Conner placed fifth as a sophomore and third as a junior. This season he had to overcome a midseason illness to make it back to The Palace.
“I had to work through a little adversity this year,” Conner said. “I had a throat condition that made it hard to breath around the middle of the season. It was a difficult season, but I pushed through it.”
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Champion: Jacob Cooper, Springport, Sr. (55-0)
Decision, 3-1, over Kevin Koenig, Laingsburg, Jr. (56-2)
It was a matchup of wrestlers who had won a combined three MHSAA titles and were both champions last year. The match was as close as one would expect, with Cooper claiming a 3-1 decision to finish his senior season with a perfect record.
The title was the third in a row for Cooper, who will be wrestling for Michigan State next season.
“The first state title was the most memorable,” Cooper said. “I knew I had to stay in control in this match. This was just a great way to go out.”
With a couple of MHSAA titles under his belt, Cooper did not have as many nerves to battle this time.
“It really helps having been here before,” Cooper said. “You are still a little nervous because at the state finals anything can happen.”
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Champion: Ryan Prescott, Whittemore-Prescott, Sr. (31-0)
Decision, 9-0, over David Robertson, New Lothrop, Sr. (45-6)
Prescott capped a glittering high school career with his third straight MHSAA championship. He has not tasted defeat since his sophomore season and finished his career with a 151-4 record, having been an MHSAA runner-up as a freshman before his title run.
“This one is a relief,” Prescott said. “When the match was over and I finally won, it was such a relief. I was so glad to make my family happy and proud and make my community happy and proud.”
A three-sport athlete at Whittemore-Prescott, Ryan will be continuing his wrestling career at Northern Illinois University.
“I will be celebrating this with my mom and dad (Dennis and Elizabeth),” Prescott said. “They have been through this all the way with me. This is my last high school match and it’s a little tear-jerker at times. All of my hopes and dreams that I’ve had since a young child have come true.”
PHOTO: Kent City’s Shane Rodenburg (gray singlet) works toward his MHSAA championship victory at 171 pounds Saturday. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Midland Heroes Win 'Match of Life' In Saving Another On Way to Regional
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 22, 2023
Wilson Shinske woke up Saturday hoping to accomplish something great.
But the Midland senior had no idea just how great and impactful his accomplishment would be, and that it would happen well before he stepped on a wrestling mat.
On the way to the Division 1 Wrestling Regional at Hartland, Shinske and his dad, Steve, pulled a man from a burning vehicle on I-75 and helped resuscitate him on the side of the road. As the man was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, the Shinskes got back in their own vehicle and made it to the meet in time for weigh-ins.
“The entire way there, I was thinking, ‘It doesn’t matter if I lose or if I win today, this was a win,’” Wilson Shinske said. “Being on the wrestling team is about being part of something bigger than yourself. Yeah, I lost both of my matches, and it was like that journey has ended. But knowing what I did earlier, I won the match of life.”
Shinske finished his wrestling season with a 21-11 record after dropping his pair of Regional matches at 215 pounds. While all of that was certainly important to him, and the end of any senior season can be tough, the events of Saturday morning put a lot of things in perspective.
“I can tell you that I was proud as hell of him,” Steve Shinske said. “I was super proud of how he handled the morning. I was proud – I’m always proud of him when he does a sport, even when he thinks he doesn’t do well. When he lost, I saw him take those losses on Saturday differently than he had in the past in some of those situations. I think he had a different mindset. After he lost the second match, he went over and sat by a wall, and there were some tears shed. There were a ton of emotions, and not just wrestling emotions.”
Wilson Shinske’s day had started like hundreds of wrestlers around the state, as he left Midland around 5:30 a.m. focused on advancing to the MHSAA Individual Finals at Ford Field.
He fell asleep during the ride, but when the car started to slow down well before he thought it should, he knew something was off.
After coming over the Zilwaukee Bridge, Steve Shinske noticed a car fire ahead. As they approached, the retired Midland fireman decided he would stop and see how he could help, figuring he would see someone outside of the vehicle.
What he saw, however, was the driver slumped over in the front seat of the pickup truck. He pulled to the side of the road, and as he made his way to the truck, so did Wilson, who had now woken up from his pre-meet nap.
“It was 75 at 6 a.m. on a Saturday with no traffic; there’s no way we should be slowing down,” Wilson remembered. “As soon as he put it in park, not even a second later, I’m out of the car.”
As the Shinskes got to the vehicle, Steve noticed the driver – whose name they would later learn is Jerry – still had his foot crammed on the accelerator. That left the rear tires spinning until the tires had burned off and the rims were grinding on the pavement, which caused the fire at the back of the truck. His first move was to put the car in park and shut it off.
They removed Jerry – who they determined was not breathing and did not have a pulse – from the truck, and then Wilson’s training kicked in.
Wilson – a three-sport athlete who carries a 3.8 GPA – plans to study nursing in college, and spends much of his school day working in a hospital as part of a co-op. He’s CPR-certified and plans to work in the ER or a trauma unit.
A point of emphasis in Wilson’s training is to assess the situation in an emergency.
“The car is on fire, the gas tank is in the back of the car, we need to get him away from this,” Wilson said. “We need to get him up in front of our car – put a barrier between us to protect us if something happened. I don’t think there were really any nerves, just more fight or flight. I’m not running away, I’m fighting this. I wasn’t concerned with how cold it was – I wasn’t dressed for 20-degree weather – it was, ‘We have a problem here, let’s fix this problem.’”
Steve started CPR on Jerry while Wilson went back to see if they could find any personal information about him that would help, and 9-1-1 was called.
An off-duty paramedic then arrived on the scene, and put in a call to her supervisor for more assistance. That’s when Wilson took over CPR, and Steve went to put out the fire using snow from the median.
When the supervisor arrived, he brought out an AED to deliver a shock to Jerry’s heart. After some more CPR, Jerry took a gasp of air, and the monitor showed that there was heart activity.
“Then the cavalry came,” Steve said of the rush of emergency vehicles on the scene. He borrowed a fire extinguisher from a police officer to put out the remaining flames, and Jerry was loaded into an ambulance. Wilson said he could see Jerry taking breaths as he was being put into the ambulance.
The whole situation took about 15 to 20 minutes.
“Wilson’s played a lot of sports – football, tennis, he’s wrestled since he’s been 6, he plays golf – he understands that sports gives you perseverance, it gives you a different mindset,” Steve said. “I bet anybody that he works with on the floor at the hospital will tell you that he’s the most outgoing, go-getter co-op student they’ve had. Those things in his life helped him in that situation.”
Jerry survived, and the Shinskes went to visit him in the hospital Monday. While there, they learned from the family that the fire had started to melt the gas tank before Steve was able to put it out. They also learned that Jerry’s wife had recently passed away, and that their quick action had prevented his family from adding another layer of grief in a very short time.
“I love watching (Wilson) wrestle, and I’m going to miss watching him wrestle,” Steve Shinske said. “But watching him on I-75 on Saturday morning was almost better than watching him wrestle. He, as a young man, as a person that’s getting ready to go into the next phase of his life, to be able to handle something like that and not miss a beat was special.”
For Wilson, the experience further cemented his chosen career path, and desire to help others.
“I want to be a part of saving lives more often,” he said. “Not that I want to see people in these situations, but I want to help them when they are.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) From left: Wilson Shinske, Jerry and Steve Shinske meet Monday, two days after the father and son helped save Jerry’s life on I-75. (Middle) Wilson Shinske, far right, has his arm raised in victory after a match. (Photos courtesy of the Shinske family, with permission.)