Aeoden Sinclair takes a 33-0 record into Thursdays WIAA Division 1 opening 215-pound weight division match, fully expecting to become the first Milton High School three-time Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association state wrestling champion.
Milton High School wrestler Aeoden Sinclair will begin his collegiate wrestling at the University of Missouri starting this fall with an eye toward qualifying for the Summer Olympics in the coming years.
Aeoden Sinclair takes a 33-0 record into Thursdays WIAA Division 1 opening 210-pound weight division match, fully expecting to become the first Milton High School three-time Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association state wrestling champion.
Miltons Aeoden Sinclair wraps up Sun Prairies Jaxon Johnson in the 215-pound sectional championship match in a Division 1 sectional wrestling meet at Milton High School on Saturday.
Miltons Aeoden Sinclair make a heart with his hands after defeating Sun Prairies Jaxon Johnson in the 215-pound sectional championship match during a Division 1 sectional wrestling meet at Milton High School on Saturday.
Miltons Aeoden Sinclair walks off the mat after a 215-pound sectional semifinal during Saturday's Division 1 sectional wrestling meet at Milton High School.
Aeoden Sinclair takes a 33-0 record into Thursdays WIAA Division 1 opening 215-pound weight division match, fully expecting to become the first Milton High School three-time Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association state wrestling champion.
Aeoden Sinclair takes a 33-0 record into Thursdays WIAA Division 1 opening 210-pound weight division match, fully expecting to become the first Milton High School three-time Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association state wrestling champion.
Miltons Aeoden Sinclair walks off the mat after a 215-pound sectional semifinal during Saturday's Division 1 sectional wrestling meet at Milton High School.
MILTON Aeoden Sinclair begins his final three days of high school wrestling Thursday afternoon.
On Saturday night, he fully expects to become the first Milton High School three-time Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association state wrestling champion. Heading into this years tournament, only 75 wrestlers in state history have become three-time champs.
But the dominant 18-year-old wrestler has bigger dreams.
His sights are set on winning Olympic gold. Reaching that might be eight years down the road, but it is something the son of Mike and Abby Sinclair believes can happen.
Miltons Aeoden Sinclair wraps up Sun Prairies Jaxon Johnson in the 215-pound sectional championship match in a Division 1 sectional wrestling meet at Milton High School on Saturday.
Anthony Wahl
Sinclair takes a 33-0 record into Thursdays WIAA Division 1 opening 215-pound weight division match against Brendon Grabot of Kenosha Indian Trail.
If all goes as plan and Sinclair has no doubt it will he will notch his third state tournament win Saturday night to conclude his four-year high school career with a 144-4 record.
Sinclairs record over his final three seasons record will be 130-1; over his final two seasons, 82-0.
An illness last month forced him to miss several matches, and the COVID-19 pandemic cut short his freshman season. Without those interruptions, his career victory total would be approaching 160.
His last loss to a high school wrestler came three years ago in the talent-laden Dvorak Invitational in Machesney Park, Illinois, against Lockport (Illinois) standout Brayden Thompson, who now stars at powerhouse Oklahoma State University.
While Sinclairs dominance puts a shine on his record, he would welcome an occasional challenge.
I have my most fun when I get to wrestle through in-depth positions and I get to showcase my skills, he said. A lot of times my matches dont require it, so I dont get to showcase how good I really am.
Last months illness caused him to lose 15 pounds. He has gained most of that back, but still is about 20 pounds less than the 215 pounds that several of his opponents might struggle to get down to this weekend.
Giving away that much weight is no problem for Sinclair. In fact, he views it as beneficial.
In my mind, the bigger guys arent as skilled, Sinclair said. They have bigger bodies. In all honesty, the 190s are often stronger than the 215s. You just cant be dumb and go underneath.
You just have to be smart, Sinclair said.
Sinclairs smarts extend beyond the mat he has a 4.0-grade point average. While wrestling, his years of experience and training put him onto whatever strategy his opponentsespecially on the high school levelhave devised for him.
What makes me so tough is that Im not going to stop, he said. Even when I was getting my butt kicked in middle school, I was still coming at you. Some people cant keep up with that.
The Askren influence
Sinclairs mentor is Ben Askren. The 39-year-old native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was a two-time WIAA state champion at 130 pounds in 2001 and 152 in 2002 while at Arrowhead High School in Hartland.
He went to the University of Missouri where he finished NCAA Division I runner-up at 174 pounds in both his freshman and sophomore seasons. He lost to then-Big 12 Conference rival Oklahoma States Chris Pendleton in both title matches.
Askren then won NCAA Division I national championships his final two years at 130 while going 87-0. He earned the Dan Hodge Trophy that is awarded to the college wrestler of the year.
Askren made the U.S. Summer Olympics squad in 2008 where he went 1-1. He then entered professional mixed martial arts where he added to his success.
In 2013, after retiring from MMA because of knee surgery, Askren and his brother, Ben, founded the Askren Wrestling Academy in Hartland.
Sinclair has been making the trip to Hartland since he started high school.
Hes my guy, Sinclair said of the nationally known Askren. I listen to him for advice on every part of my life.
Askren loves working with Sinclair.
Hes much more talented at that age than I was, Askren said during a phone interview when asked for a comparison. Plus, he talks a lot more.
Missouri bound
As Askren did after high school, Sinclair is headed to the University of Missouri. He has received messages and videos from the Missouri staff since committing to the Tigers.
Milton High School wrestler Aeoden Sinclair will begin his collegiate wrestling at the University of Missouri starting this fall with an eye toward qualifying for the Summer Olympics in the coming years.
Anthony Wahl/Adams Publishing Group
I cant wait to get into that (wrestling) room, Sinclair said. I want to get there as soon as possible.
College will provide something Sinclair lives for equal competition.
In our wrestling room, Im a bigger weight so its hard for me to find wrestling partners and challenging matches, Sinclair said. The more I can be immersed in that (college) lifestyle and like-minded individuals if I dont have a challenge in life, I get frustrated.
Sinclair anticipates being redshirted next season. Missouri is ranked No. 7 nationally and has talented underclassmen in its upper weight classes. Keegan OToole, an Arrowhead graduate, is a junior on the squad and is a two-time NCAA national champion at 165.
The three highest weight classes in college are 174, 197 and 285. The Tigers target Sinclair for the 197-pound division, a spot junior Rocky Elam, a three-time NCAA All-American, holds.
I like him, Sinclair said of Elam. Hes 6-3 and naturally walks around near 200. Hes just a huge individual.
I just got to get in their lifting program for a year and get acclimated.
High school finale
Pat Jauch has had the pleasure of coaching Sinclair at Milton.
Jauch, a 1992 graduate of Milton High, says Sinclair is the best wrestler ever to come through the program.
Hes a beast, Jauch said. When he puts his hands on you, you feel like he could throw you through a wall.
But you could walk through these hallways of the school, and every single kid would tell you hes a great guy, Jauch said. He is by far the most skilled and successful wrestler that Ive ever coached.
Jauch will enjoy watching Sinclair finish off his high school career at the Kohl Center this weekend.
And the wrestler, who needed only a combined 1 minute, 38 seconds to pin three opponents at the sectional competition and couldve done it faster if he wanted, might duplicate that type of success in Madison.
Winning a third state title would put Sinclair on top of the Milton wrestling history book.
That is always something cool to think about, Sinclair said. But is not something Im fixated on.
Olympic dream
What he is fixated on is making an U.S. Olympic wrestling team.
Askren says that goal is attainable.
And Sinclair has no doubt it is. He took part in two training sessions at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, before competing on the USA Wrestling U17 World Team in Instanbul last August.
That international experience and his many national tournament successes are the initial steps to reaching his ultimate goal.
When you have a process-focused mindset, things will take care of themselves, Sinclair said. If you just concentrate on outcome or result, then you might find yourself in a depressed state.
Sinclair plans to participate in a Last Chance tournament for an opportunity to make the 2024 U.S. Olympic team that will compete in the Paris Olympics this summer. Even Sinclair admits that is unlikely to happen.
The 2028 Summer Olympics will be in Los Angeles. The 2032 Games are in Brisbane, Australia. Those venues will continue to be on Sinclairs radar.
In my minds eye, (2028) is when Im going to make the U.S. Olympic team, Sinclair said. But things work out at different rates. Maybe it will be 2032.
If you are in for the long game, youre more committed.
Thursday, Friday and Saturday will be the end of Sinclairs successful high school wrestling career.
It will not be the end of his commitment to the sport he loves.
Miltons Aeoden Sinclair make a heart with his hands after defeating Sun Prairies Jaxon Johnson in the 215-pound sectional championship match during a Division 1 sectional wrestling meet at Milton High School on Saturday.
Anthony Wahl
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