By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Caden Walker has been a top wrestler for Shawnee Heights since he stepped on the mat for the T-Birds.
But after making it to the Class 5A state tournament as a freshman and earning a state medal with a sixth-place finish last season as a sophomore, the T-Bird star 160-pounder has stepped up his game a few notches this season, taking a perfect 35-0 record into Friday's 5A state tournament at Park City's Hartman Arena (12 p.m. start).
"Last year I tried getting some more mat time while I was out there, working on some other stuff, but this year I've just gone out there and tried to pin everybody as fast as I could,'' said Walker, who has won 29 matches by fall and pinned his way through the T-Birds' regional sub-state tournaments.
"I didn't want to be on the mat for very long -- just get off the mat and get rested and be ready for the next match.''
Shawnee Heights junior 160-pounder Caden Walker (left), will take a perfect 35-0 record into Friday's Class 5A state wrestling tournament at Hartman Arena. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Walker, who was 41-7 as a sophomore at 145 pounds, missed time earlier in the year due to surgery to remove a cyst in his lower back and later because of COVID-19 protocols, but has been dominant since returning, reaching the 100-win milestone for his career late in the regular season.
Now Walker will try to close out his magical year with a state championship and is hoping his past experience at state will be a benefit.
"I've been out there two years so the nerves aren't going to be there so much,'' he said. "As a freshman and sophomore I was wrestling juniors and seniors that were a lot stronger as far as man strength, but now I'm a junior wrestling seniors so it's not that much of a difference there.''
Walker is currently ranked No. 3 in a 160-pound bracket that is arguably the toughest in 5A.
Arkansas City senior Trig Tennant is currently No. 1 while Goddard senior Cayleb Atkins is second-ranked.
"I woud say there's probably five that on a given weekend could win it, but three of them (Walker, Tennant and Atkins), if any of the three won it nobody would be surprised,'' Shawnee Heights coach Chad Parks said. "It's just who's going to have a good weekend and who's going to come out and perform and who's going to have good singular matches.
"I'll put Caden right there with any of those guys, but it's not going to be easy and (Caden's) excited about the challenge. I'm sure they are, too. High level wrestlers want to wrestle other high level wrestlers.''
Walker agreed.
"These kids are going to be tough, but I'm tough,'' Walker said. "I bet they're thinking they've got to prepare for me just like I'm preparing for them. It's just going to be whether I can come out on top or they come out on top. I'm going to try my best to come out on top in those matches.''
"If I put my best out there, win or lose I'm going to be happy when I walk off the mat. But if I don't give my 100 percent effort and I don't give all that I can then I'm going to be upset with myself.''
