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Wrestling Notebook: Win over No. 1 moves Princeton’s Augustus Swanson to top of rankings

PHS soph beats LeRoy’s Brady Mouser, avenges loss at PIT

By Kevin Hieronymus
Princeton's Augustus Swanson Wrestles Down's Brady Mouser during the 60th annual Lyle King invitational wrestling tournament on Saturday, Jan. 6, 2023 in Princeton.

Princeton's Augustus Swanson wrestles LeRoy's Brady Mouser during the 60th annual Lyle King invitational wrestling tournament on Saturday, Jan. 6, 2023 in Princeton. Mouser won the match, but Swanson gained avenge over the weekend in the LeRoy Invitational with a 7-1 decision to take over the No. 1 ranking at 106 pounds. (Scott Anderson)

To be No. 1, you’ve got to beat No. 1.

Augustus Swanson took that saying to heart Saturday.

The Princeton sophomore grappler defeated LeRoy’s Brady Mouser, then ranked No. 1 by illinoismatmen.com, by a 7-1 decision at 106 pounds at the LeRoy Invitational to avenge an overtime loss at the Princeton invite on Jan. 6.

With that win, Swanson, now 24-1, swapped places with Mouser to take over No. 1.

“It felt good. I corrected a few things, wrestled smart and tough,” Swanson said. “It is possible we will meet again at State. I just have to stay focused and keep working hard towards my goals.”

“It was a good win for Augustus. He knew he was better than he showed in the finals of the PIT and went out and proved it,” PHS coach Steve Amy said. “He stuck to the game plan and looked great doing so. He has definitely earned the No. 1 ranking, but there is still a lot of work to be done between now and the State Tournament.”

Augustus Swanson

Augustus Swanson

Classmate Casey Etheridge (165) and junior Cade Odell (275) also reached the top of the podium with championships at LeRoy.

Acing win No. 100: PHS junior Ace Christiansen was runner-up at LeRoy at 138 and recorded his 100th career win. He stands 19th overall for PHS, now with a 103-30 record.

“Ace has put together a great career so far. Getting to 100 wins as a junior is pretty tough to do. It takes many years of hard work to be able to accomplish,” Amy said. “He has an opportunity to possibly put himself pretty high on the all-time wins list. We are all proud of what he has accomplished so far and excited to see what he can do with the rest of this year and next.”

Princeton junior Ace Christiansen won his 100th career match at the LeRoy Invitational, becoming the 20th Tiger to reach that mark. He stands 25-4 this year and 101-30 overall.

Princeton junior Ace Christiansen won his 100th career match at the LeRoy Invitational, becoming the 20th Tiger to reach that mark. He stands 27-4 this year and 103-30 overall. (Photo provided)

Ty Taylor, who won 166 matches from 2004-08, heads the all-time win list at PHS followed by Ryne Bird (1999-03) with 160, Kristian Wahlgren (1990-94) with 147, Kipp Wahlgren (1986-90) with 145 and Augie Christiansen (2019-23) with 139.

Three to tango: The Tigers have three grapplers ranked in this week’s top 7 - Swanson, No. 1 at 106, Odell (22-1) at No. 4 at 275 and Christiansen (27-4) at No. 7 at 138.

Etheridge (25-5) has received a honorable mention ranking at 165.

Postseason looming: In just a week, area wrestlers will be putting it all on the line for the postseason.

Princeton, St. Bede, Mendota, Hall/Putnam County and the Amboy co-op will be wrestling out of the Class 1A Sandwich Regional on Saturday, Feb. 2. They will be joined in the 11-team field by Aurora Christian, Lisle, Mooseheart, Ottawa Marquette, Sandwich and Somonauk.

The top four wrestlers in each weight class will advance to the Byron Sectional. Other regional feeds come from Newman, Stillman Valley and Johnsburg.

LaSalle-Peru, Ottawa and Streator will compete in the 2A Rock Island Regional, which includes Dixon, Galesburg, Geneseo, Rock Island and Sterling. This regional feeds in to the Sycamore Sectional.

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