Boys swimming and diving: Willmar Cardinals will have a little more depth

Dec. 2---- Underclassmen make up the majority of the

depth and they will be counted on in helping drive its success.

Cardinals head coach Carl Shuldes returns two seniors and four juniors to his roster which includes 13 swimmers who are in the sophomore class or younger.

This youthful wave is joining forces with key returners who saw Willmar finish with a 3-5 record in the Central Lakes Conference and a 4-6 overall mark in 2024-25.

"It's exciting to see the little bump (in numbers)," Shuldes said. "We've got six new kids on the team who have come up through the (Willmar Aquatic Racing Stingrays)."

After graduating some of their top swimmers in David Lammers, who is a freshman at St. John's University, Alex Marcus and Evan Wallestad, seniors Sam Sheets and Soren Newberg are chief among the returnees for the Cardinals.

Sheets was both a member of Willmar's 200-yard freestyle and medley relays which advanced to the Class A state tournament. Newberg was also on the 200 freestyle relay team that capped off its state run with a seventh-place finish.

"Soren, being an experienced swimmer, may end up swimming some events that he doesn't normally swim and the same goes for Sam," Shuldes said. "We don't have any returning swimmers from the 100 butterfly, so that is a gaping hole for us this year."

Shuldes is hoping Abram Schueler and Matthew Lammers have breakout campaigns.

Schueler is a junior and Lammers is a sophomore who served as an alternate for the two relays at the Class A state tournament last season.

"We're looking for big things out of those two guys," Shuldes said.

Also in the mix are juniors Anthony Buzzeo, Jeremiah Swanson and Isaac Thielen. Mitchell Arends and Noah Swanson round out the sophomores with Lammers.

Easton Krause, Chanse McChesney, Abbott Schueler, Beckham Sebesta and Carter Sietsema make up Willmar's up-and-coming freshman class.

Williams Arends and Emanuel Heinen, both seventh-graders, lead a promising middle school pack for the Cardinals, who have one eighth-grader in Elias Saint.

Dominick Devine and Hudson Kells are also members of the seventh-grade class.

"It looks like we've got some kids that could help us out in the future," Shuldes said. "Just to have that nice bubble of young kids coming in helps out."

Shuldes has some athletes who have shown interest in 1-meter diving, an event where the Cardinals have had no participants in recent years.

They will be coached by Maddie Stoeberl, a 2018 Willmar High School grad, who took part in her first season as the program's diving coach with the girls' team in the fall.

As the Cardinals find participants in diving, they will look to remain competitive in the CLC.

Brainerd was the top team in the CLC with an 8-0 record before finishing 10-0 overall in the 2024-25 season. Alexandria was second at 7-1 in the CLC and 8-2 overall.

Over the summer, the St. Cloud Area School Board voted for the co-op of St. Cloud Apollo and St. Cloud Tech. Apollo and Tech, along with swimmers and divers from Becker, Rocori and St. Cloud Cathedral, will make up the new St. Cloud Crush co-op.

"The CLC is tough, as always," Shuldes said. "If we can finish in the middle of the pack, I would be very happy with that."

Similarly to years past, Shuldes hopes a few of his athletes advance to state.

"We always try to get as many individuals to the state meet as we can," Shuldes said. "It's looking like we can get a few down again this year."

vs. Montevideo, Dec. 4

at Detroit Lakes, Dec. 11

vs. Sartell, Dec. 16

at Brainerd Invitational, Dec. 27

at Dassel-Cokato, Jan. 6

vs. St. Cloud, Jan. 8

at Sauk Rapids, Jan. 13

vs. Brainerd, Jan. 15

vs. Melrose/Sauk Centre, Jan. 20

vs. Alexandria, Jan. 22

at Montevideo, Jan. 27

at Fergus Falls, Jan. 29

CLC Championships, Feb. 7