By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SALEM, Ore.– West Salem’s Kit Shinkle had overcame a slow start to his 215-pound District Title victory Saturday night at the Central Valley Conference District Wrestling Meet at Sprague High School.
It took the Titan junior a minute before scoring off a takedown and led 3-0 entering the second period against South Salem’s Josiah Lunde. But after shaking off the rust of the lengthy break in between his semi-final and final match, Shinkle began to come back around to close out the match. A reversal made it 5-0 before he gave up an escape point that led into another takedown for the West Salem grappler. He led 8-1 after two periods in the District Title match.
Within 22 seconds of the final round, the junior closed out the match with a pin victory to clinch his first-ever District Title.
“It was a bit of a slow start. I was kind in my own head, I wasn’t in quite the right mode. By the third round, my coach was like, ‘Hey, you’re being boring right now. You got to step it up, take it up a notch,” said Shinkle. “When I heard that, I needed to listen to coach, I needed to start ramping it up and that’s when I started to bring my intensity a little bit higher and tired to finish the match when I could.”
With State coming in two weeks, that need to be prepared will be crucial points Shinkle.
“Having the right stuff, having the right gear, and making sure that the only thing on my mind is wrestling. If I’m able to do that, I’ll be successful at the State Tournament this year,” said Shinkle.
But for now, he’s going to enjoy this moment in winning this District Title before totally turning his focus to the State Tournament.
“It’s a sense of relief. This whole year, I’ve been wanting it, all throughout my High School career and finally taking that…it’s a sense of accomplishment because that’s what I’ve wanted for so many years,” Shinkle said.
Shinkle will be joined by Trask Hepburn, who placed third at 175 pounds Saturday, as West Salem wrestlers who will be heading to the State Tournament.
