Storm hockey and Falcon basketball player finish neck-and-neck in poll

SAINT CLOUD — Chase Wheeler is the St. Cloud Times athlete of the week.

The senior goaltender for the Sauk Rapids-Rice hockey Storm won over 53.6% of the vote in the Dec. 21-27 poll, followed by Foley girls basketball senior Alexis Swanson, who had 43 rebounds in three games. Swanson had an impressive 45.4% of the vote.

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On the ice, Sauk Rapids (4-7-1) went 1-1 with a 4-3 loss to Hopkins (3-8-1) and a 7-0 win over Princeton (0-11-1). Wheeler started both games over classmate Landon Jennings. He saved 29 of 33 shots against the Royals and 27 of 27 against the Tigers for a save percentage of .933 on the week. The figure is higher than his current rate of .859 to go with a GAA of 3.49.

This week, the Storm are still receiving votes in the letsplayhockey.com Class 1A boys rankings. They play River Lakes (3-7) at 7 p.m. on Thursday in Paynesville.

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Contact reporter Reid Glenn at rglenn@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: St. Cloud Times athlete of the week Dec. 21-27, 2025 results