De Pere High School graduate wins DII national wrestling title

DE PERE – After falling short in each of his first three collegiate seasons, De Pere High School graduate Shane Corrigan said he knew this was his last shot to take home a Division II national wrestling title.

Corrigan, wrestling in the 125-pound category for the UW-Parkside — the only Division II college in the State of Wisconsin — did just that on March 14 at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Corrigan, a 2022 De Pere graduate, bettered Anthony Aniciete from Tiffin in the finals by major decision (13-4) to win his first national title.

“It feels awesome to bring home a national title for UW-Parkside, the State of Wisconsin and De Pere High School,” Corrigan said. “It’s awesome to represent everyone who helped me along the way. I’m proud to pave the way for future generations of wrestlers.”

As a 2022 WIAA Division 1 State champion at 120 pounds his senior year at De Pere, Corrigan said there are some similarities to his most recent title.

“Don’t get me wrong...winning a State title in high school was awesome — it laid the groundwork — but this is a national championship,” he said. “I’ll take this national championship over the high school title, but both mean a lot to me. When you’re in the moment of trying to win a title, each was unique and special in its own way.”

Corrigan has progressively moved up the Division II ranks at Parkside.

During his first three seasons at Parkside, Corrigan said he finished as an All-American but failed to place better than fifth.

“My freshman year, I finished seventh, then sixth as a sophomore and fifth as a junior,” he said. “This year was now or never. Being a national champ has been my goal for the past four years — I’ve pretty much thought about it every day.”

After college, Corrigan said opportunities to continue wrestling competitively are limited.

He said for some, the Olympics are an option, but he’s not going that route.
“I’ve decided I’m done wrestling,” he said. “I’d like to jump right into coaching if I can. I have some options back home or down [in the Parkside area], so I’m weighing my options.”

Though jumping from fifth place last year to taking home a title this year was a tough ask, Corrigan said he felt confident he could accomplish his goal.

“There are always doubts that creep into your mind — I had moved up one place every season — but I feel like [in my previous three seasons], I was always within striking distance of reaching my goal,” he said.

Corrigan said in the Division II wrestling world, participants have a regional two weeks prior to the national tournament.

He said wrestlers must finish in the top three at regionals to advance to the national tournament.

“I actually got third at regionals,” Corrigan said. “I lost in the semifinals and had to wrestle back to qualify. I won my wrestle back to finish third.”
At the national tournament, the No. 4-seeded Corrigan said 17 wrestlers qualified in each weight category, with eight placing and being named All-Americans.

To the casual observer, Corrigan finishing third at regionals but still winning a national title two weeks later seems all the more impressive.

“I’d say it’s quite rare to win the way I did [by placing third at regionals], but there have been multiple times at Parkside it’s happened,” he said. “My coaches kept telling us about that. It was about staying with the process and believing in yourself.”

In winning his four matches in Sioux Falls, ironically, Corrigan said he never got to wrestle against the athlete — Ben Aranda from St. Cloud St. — who beat him at regionals.

“He went 0-2 at the national tournament,” he said. “The tournament was double elimination, but if you lose once, you can’t wrestle for a national title — you have to go undefeated to win it all.”

To top it off, Parkside finished runner-up as a team.

“We finished five points behind the [University of Nebraska-Kearney,]” Corrigan said. “That’s not much at all. We had four guys wrestle in the semifinals, but unfortunately, I was the only one to advance to the finals. If any one of those other guys wins, we probably sneak out the team national title.”

For the Rangers, the runner-up finish in the team competition was the program’s best-ever result.

Though he’s hot off a national title, Corrigan said he still thinks of his days on the mat at De Pere High School.

“[Former De Pere] Coach Matt Kincade instilled a lot of great values in me,” he said. “He taught me hard work and to keep my head down and keep working. I owe a lot to him as well.”