Swenson Becoming the Closer for East Wrestling

In his 14^th season at the helm, Cherry Hill East wrestling coach Mike Brown did something this preseason he had never done in his coaching tenure: He named a junior as a team captain.

That junior was Patrick Swenson. All he has done since is make it look like one of the smartest decisions in his coach’s career.

Swenson, who wrestles at 145 pounds, clinched a pair of matches for Cherry Hill East as the Cougars went 2-1 in a quad meet with wins over Burlington City and Triton Saturday.

“In my 14 years of being here at East, he is the first junior captain that I recall, and there’s a reason why,” Brown said. “He closes matches. He’s a leader and he does the extra stuff in the offseason to make him that good. Knowing that the match is coming down to him I feel real confident.”

East trailed Burlington City 35-32 heading down to the final weight class, where Swenson was waiting knowing it would take at least a major decision (win by eight points or more) to deliver his team the victory.

“It’s hard coming in knowing you are down three or four points and knowing that you need a tech or a pin to put your team ahead,” Swenson said. “It is really difficult to get that mindset before a match.”

It didn’t show.

Swenson (10-1) scored a series of takedowns to record a 10-0 major decision and deliver the Cougars a 36-35 win in their second match of the day.

“I just kind of cleared my mind and went into with the mindset that I can beat this kid. I knew everything I had to do, my coaches were right there and I had my teammates behind me,” Swenson said.

After a short break, East was right back at it in a nail-biter with Triton. The Cougars led 33-29 with two matches left when Swenson clinched the victory for East with a 14-2 major decision. The result marked the fourth time in five East victories that Swenson was able to provide the clinching points.

“I’m kind of getting used to it, actually,” Swenson said with a laugh. “It’s starting to get to a high number. It still gets harder and harder every time though, because you never know how good your opponent is going to be.”

The day didn’t start as well for East, who was overwhelmed by host Highland, 63-12. Swenson and Daishi Goto scored the only victories for the Cougars as each went 3-0 on the day.

“We started off slow, but as the day went on, we started to get to our level,” Swenson said.

East (5-3) is hoping their success this season will culminate in a playoff berth. The Cougars should have a good idea where they stand after matches with Absegami and Cherokee this week.

“We believe it,” Brown said. “We put in the work in the offseason and we have worked as hard as anyone else. We think that we do have a team that can make the playoffs.”

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