COLLEGE WRESTLING: ATHENS GRAD WINTERS WIN MIDEAST REGIONAL TITLE, HORTON FINISHES THIRD — BOTH QUALIFY FOR DIVISION III NATIONALS (2020-03-01)

Valley Sports Report
ITHACA "” Athens grads Kaidon Winters and Chris Horton both qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships, and helped RIT to a fourth-place finish here Sunday at the Mideast Regionals at Ithaca College.

The top three finishers in each weight class earned automatic bids to Nationals on March 13-14 at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Winters, who was an All-American last year after a fifth-place finish at Nationals, pinned his way into the Regional finals, then claimed the title with an 8-3 decision over Ithaca College's Sam Schneider.

Winters, a junior, opened the two-day tournament Saturday with a pin of Muhlenberg College's Ronald Grevera in 2:04. He followed that up with a pin of Scranton's Kyle Shaffer in 2:22 in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals, Winters recorded his third straight first-period pin, decking Centenary's Stanley Wojdylak in 1:31.

Winter is 34-4 on the season with 18 pins and five technical falls. In his career, Winters is 111-16, with a school-record 57 pins. He also owns the school record for pins in a single-season with 22 set during his freshman season.

Horton, a sophomore, opened his tournament Saturday with an 11-3 major decision over Scranton's Shane Reynolds, then topped Hunter's Andrew Cota, 10-5, in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals, Horton lost via technical fall to Ithaca College's Travis Jones in 6:07, but he bounced back with two more wins to claim third place.

In the consolation semifinals, Horton topped Oswego's William Hardin, 9-5, then sewed up his trip to Nationals with a dominating, 12-0, major decision over Hunter College's Andrew Cota.

Horton is now 24-10 on the season, with five pins. He is 49-27 for his career.

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IN PHOTO: Kaidon Winters (left) and Chris Horton.