March 29, 2024

Swedenhjelm resigns as NHS wrestling coach

Andy Swedenhjelm tendered his resignation as the Newton High head wrestling coach and the Newton Community School District board of education voted to accept it at Monday’s board meeting.

Swedenhjelm was named the NHS head football coach in January. He finished his seventh year as head wrestling coach at the 2020 Iowa State Wrestling tournament on Saturday as he had two senior wrestlers reach the state podium in Class 3A competition.

“It’s for practical purposes. I’ve got to balance my professional goals and my family life,” Swedenhjelm said of his decision. “We stress to our wrestlers to not just strive to be better athletes but to be better people. I have to reflect that too.”

Swedenhjelm said after accepting the head football position at Newton, he made the decision to resign his wrestling position following this season. He said he wanted to be fair to all involved including himself to be not just a good football coach but also a great husband and father.

In his seven years as the Cardinal wrestling head coach, the Cardinals have had 18 state Class 3A qualifiers — at least one each year — and three in each of the final three seasons. Seniors Gage Linahon and Destin Schroder and junior Anthony Bestell qualified for the 2020 state tournament.

Newton has had six wrestlers place at state under Swedenhjelm’s direction.

Linahon became Newton’s first back-to-back state placer since Evan Rethmeier in 2010 and 2011 at 171 and 215, respectively. Linahon finished third at 220 in 2019 and claimed second at 220 on Saturday. Schroder placed eighth at 182 on Saturday.

“I’ve been really fortunate to work with some great kids and some really good coaches the past seven years,” Swedenhjelm said. “I can’t thank my coaches enough. They’ve been fantastic — Coach Hale, Coach Smith, Coach Cazett and Coach Peters. Couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to work with.”

Newton begins the search for a new NHS head wrestling coach.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com