Prep athletes of the week: Wayzata's Cael Swensen sets school wrestling record for wins

With the first name of Cael, it stood to reason that wrestling success was in his future.

The senior 152-pounder, named after Olympic gold medalist, undefeated four-time NCAA champion and current Penn State coach Cael Sanderson, set the Wayzata school record for career victories with the 198th of his career. That broke the mark set by Weston Droegemueller.

Normally Swensen, the 2020 Class 3A 138-pound champion, likes to extend matches and score points to work on his craft. But he said he made short work of the record-setting match because he knew its magnitude.

"I get a lot of takedowns and work on stuff, but I knew there was going to be an announcement, so I got it over quick.," he said of his 14-second victory. "This was a goal I set as a sixth-grader, so it's pretty awesome to accomplish it."

Swensen said his namesake is his favorite wrestler, followed by David Taylor, who was coached by Sanderson and won two NCAA titles. Swensen even patterns his style after them and leans heavily on the ankle pick, Sanderson's signature move and one also perfected by Taylor.

"That's my best move and their best move," said Swensen, who has signed with South Dakota State. "I try to copy a lot of the things they do."

The senior small forward, who transferred from St. Croix Lutheran, helped the Hawks to a 90-64 victory over St. Paul Washington and an 86-71 victory against St. Paul Como Park 86-71. In those two games, he had a combined 42 points, 20 rebounds and 12 assists.

The senior forward left his mark all over the Trojans' score sheets last week. He had a hat trick and added two assists in a 7-1 victory over Buffalo. He posted an identical score line two days later in an 8-2 rout of St. Michael-Albertville.

The 5-5 point guard, often the shortest player on the floor, continues to stand tall for the undefeated Ponies. She had 52 points in victories over White Bear Lake and East Ridge, making seven three-pointers and collecting six assists and six steals.

The 6-3 sophomore guard led the Wildcats to victories over Apple Valley 54-45 and Prior Lake 61-58 (OT), averaging 21.5 points and seven rebounds. His two free throws sent the Prior Lake game to overtime and he later assisted on the game-winning basket.

Two fine all-around performances by Swanson, a junior guard, guided the Wildcats to wins over New Prague (80-38) and Jordan (77-47). She averaged 19.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists as Waconia improved to 6-0.

Jim Paulsen