MHS - Wrestling / February 26, 2023 By Kasey McDowell
The Mulvane girl's wrestling team brought 4 wrestlers to the 4-1A State wrestling tournament this past Wednesday & Thursday, regional champions Kammie Schanz and Leiannah Landreth, junior Loren Gonzalez, and freshman Dacia Root.
In round 1 of the tournament, Landreth was first up in the 115 lb weight class and she made quick work in the second period with a pin over Cheyenne LaBarge from St. Francis. Root was up next in the 125 lb weight class and she fought well but lost by fall in the second period to Olive Dubois from Wellsville. Schanz was up next in the 145 lb weight class and she pinned her opponent, Kelly Newton from Independence, in the second period. Gonzalez was last up for the Cats in the first round and lost by fall at the 1:55 mark in the second period to Jazmin Wilson from Winfield.
Round 2 was just Landreth and Schanz in the quarterfinals and Leiannah went into the 3rd period of her match against Kynlie Stevenson from Wellsville and was able to pin her at the 1:01 mark of the period, which guaranteed her a spot on the podium. Kammie's match went the distance with Lyrica Orosco from Hoisington and she was able to grab a 4-1 win by decision to guarantee a spot on the podium.
Round 3 was the consolation round and Dacia Root fell by a 0-12 major decision to Hanna Bailey from Girard, thus ending her tournament. Loren Gonzalez also had a tough matchup and lost by fall at the 26-second mark in the second period to Brenah Cannon from Council Grove.
Round 4 was the semi-finals and Landreth was matched up against Josiah Ortiz from Lakin, who she lost to last year in the finals, and the girl's match was a phenomenal one, going the entire 3 periods. Ortiz was able to score an escape for 1 point very late in the 3rd period and hang on for the win. Landreth went to the consolation semifinals to see if she would wrestle for 3rd/4th place or 5th/6th place. Schanz was matched up with Ella Johnson from Marysville and Kammie won by major decision in an impressive 13-0 final score to advance to the championship match on Thursday.
Round 5 for Leiannah was the consolation semifinals and she faced Kenzlie Crain from Lindsborg-Smoly Valley. Landreth won the match by fall at the 1:42 mark of the second period, which propelled her to the 3rd/4th place match. In the 3rd place match, Leiannah took care of business and won by fall at the 1-minute 20-second mark of the second period, securing a 3rd place spot on the podium.
Kammie had to wait all day Thursday for the championship matches to start and she was slated to wrestle Destiny Gonzalez from Goodland, a revenge match for Schanz as she lost to Gonzalez last year at state when she was fighting through injuries. Gonzalez was able to get on the board first with a 2-point reversal but Kammie was able to grab 1 point quickly with an escape just as the period ended. Shanz then went down to the mat with an apparent knee injury, which turned out to be a hamstring issue that she had been battling for a short time. She fought through the pain and continued the 3rd period. Kammie took a 3-2 lead in the 3rd period with a 2-point reversal, but Gonzalez tied up the match very late in the 3rd with a 1-point escape to force overtime. 
Kammie almost finished the match quickly in overtime with a takedown, but the referee ruled the wrestlers out of bounds in a somewhat controversial call. Kammie and Gonzalez went back to a standing neutral position and Gonzalez went for a takedown but Schanz was able to defend it and score 2-points with a takedown of her own, ending the match with a 5-3 final score and Schanz securing her second state championship.
The video of the final match can be found here.
As a team, the Wildcats finished in 11th place out of 87 teams with 47.0 total points.
Leiannah Landreth (38-1) placed 3rd and scored 22.0 team points.
Dacia Root (11-6) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.
Kammie Schanz (41-0) placed 1st and scored 25.0 team points.
Loren Gonzalez (10-10) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.
