MHS - Wrestling / March 5, 2023 By Kasey McDowell
There have been many very successful boy wrestlers come out of Mulvane High School over the course of the program's history, which began in 1989. Mulvane has had a few girl pioneers in the program, but with KSHSAA not sanctioning an official girl's program until 2019-2020, they had to compete against the boys and did not have their own regional or state tournaments. Tiffany Hansen was Mulvane's first girl wrestler in the 2003-2004 school year. Former wrestling coach Rick Langerot said she could have been a 4-timer if they would have had girls' state back then. The 2019-20 year would change all that and enter freshman Kammie Schanz to set the roadmap for Mulvane girls for many years to come.
Mulvane senior Kammie Schanz started wrestling when she was in 3rd grade and fell in love with the sport. Not only did she wrestle, but she also played football for Mulvane at the junior football level as well as in Middle School and her freshman year in high school. Her freshman year at Mulvane, which happened to be the same year as the inaugural girls-sanctioned wrestling year, Kammie cruised through her competition during the year and qualified for the state tournament with a 2nd place regional finish. She won her two first matches at state but fell to Livia Swift from Pratt by 1 point to finish in 2nd place.
Kammie had her revenge season her sophomore year, which was also the covid year, so she did not have as many matches that season as she did her freshman year, but she was able to cruise through her matches and remained undefeated at 17-0 going into the state tournament. Schanz pinned her first two opponents and faced Courtney Holt from Circle in the championship match. Kammie wasn't to be deterred and pinned Courtney to earn her first wrestling state championship and Mulvane's first girl state champion in school history.
Kammie's junior year is what we will call her illness/injury season where she was plagued all season with an elbow injury and a bout of Covid that limited her matches and also limited her wrestling style as she was in pain most of the season. Before the year started, she had a choice to have surgery and miss the entire season, or wrestle through the pain and have surgery after the year. She chose the latter. Despite all that, Kammie qualified for the state tournament with a 2nd place finish at regionals. Kammie lost her first match at state and had to battle through the consolation side of the bracket, and battle she did, winning the next 3 matches to guarantee a spot on the podium, and winning her last match for a 5th place medal.
Senior year was her time to shine. Fully healthy and back to her full strength, Kammie rolled through her competition all season long, winning match after match by fall and 8 tournament championships before heading to the regional tournament. The regional tournament was just another bump in the road to state for Schanz and she rolled right over it as well, pinning all four of her opponents to become regional champion and the number 1 seed in the 145 lb weight class going into state. Kammie pinned her first opponent at state and won her second match by a 4-1 decision to guarantee a spot on the podium. Her next match against Ella Johnson from Marysville went the distance, but Kammie won by Major Decision with a 13-0 score to send her to the championship match.
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. Schanz 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.
Kammie finished her career at Mulvane with a final record of 114-8, 93 wins by fall, 4 state medals, and 2 state championships, and ranked #1 in the state in all classes in the 145 lb weight class. She is not the first girl wrestler for the Mulvane High School program, but she is the first girl wrestler who is a state medalist and she is the first state champion as well as the first multiple state champion in the program's history.
"We are so proud of you, and so happy for you!" said Coach Jesse Myers about Kammie's second state championship. "Thank you for all you’ve done for this sport and our program. We will miss you dearly! You are a HUGE part of building this solid foundation of Mulvane Girls wrestling."
Kammie's absence next year will be very apparent, not only in the results each week but on the mats in practice and especially in her dynamic with sophomore Leiannah Landreth, who when they get together, the silliness comes out. “If it’s us together, it’s a mess,” Schanz said in an interview earlier this year. “I mean we get things done, but …” Landreth even affectionately referred to Schanz as "mother" a time or two at the state tournament. The duo finished this season with a combined 80-1 record.
Kammie will continue her education and wrestling career next year as she signed with the Iowa Central Tritons earlier this year.
Thank you Kammie for all the hard work, dedication, perseverance, and positive example you set for all future Mulvane girls wrestlers.
SENIOR YEAR
12/1/2022 - Mulvane Home Duel
* Open - W - 1-0
* Cornejo, Wellington - W(Fall) - 2-0
12/2/2022 - Valley Center
* Snook, Rose Hill W(Fall) - 3-0
* Hoffman, Douglass W(Fall) - 4-0
* Serrano, GC W(Fall) - 5-0
* Arroyo, DC W(Inj. FF) - 6-0
12/10/2022 - Wellington
* Hatfield, Andover W(Fall) - 7-0
* Cornejo, Wellington W(TF) - 8-0
* Snok, Rose Hill W(Fall) - 9-0
12/16/2022 - Wichita North High
* Castillo, ICT North W(Fall) - 10-0
* Grossman, JuCity W(Fall) - 11-0
* Hatfield, Andover W(Fall) - 12-0
1/7/2023 - Burlington
* Morris, Fort Scott W(Fall) - 13-0
* Phillips, Burlington W(Fall) - 14-0
* Plumley, Cherryvale W(Fall) - 15-0
1/14/2023 - Clearwater
* Francoeur, Ind W(Fall) - 16-0
* Smith, McPherson W(Fall) - 17-0
* Webb, Pratt W(Fall) - 18-0
* Etheridge, Chaparral W(TF) - 19-0
1/17/2023 - Bluestem Jamboree
* Smith, McPherson W(Fall) - 20-0
* Rogers, Mulvane W(Inj. FF) - 21-0
* MHatfield, Andover W(Fall) - 22-0
1/19/2023 - Douglass Duels
* Hoffman, Douglass W(Fall) - 23-0
1/21/2023 - Wichita Heights
* Land, Winfield W(Fall) - 24-0
* Hatfield, Andover W(Fall) - 25-0
* Cokely, Valley Center W(Fall) - 26-0
* Green, KMC W(Fall) - 27-0
* Zwicki, Hutchinson W(Fall) - 28-0
1/26/2023 - Circle Duel
* Hamill W(Fall) - 29-0
1/27/2023 - Wichita South Inv
* Land, Winfield W(Fall) - 30-0
* Rupper, ICT Heights W(Fall) - 31-0
* Hoffman, Douglass W(Fall) - 32-0
* Foulk, ICT BC W(Fall) - 33-0
2/2/2023 - Home Duel vs Win
* Open W - 34-0
2/11/2023 - Regionals
* Cornejo, Wellington W(Fall) - 35-0
* Westfall, Halstead W(Fall) - 36-0
* Newton, Cimarron W(Fall) - 37-0
* Webb, Pratt W(Fall) - 38-0
2/22/2023 - 4-1A State Tournament
* Newton, Independence W(Fall) - 39-0
* Orosco, Hoisington W(Dec) - 40-0
* Johnson, Marysville W(MD) - 41-0
* Gonzalez, Goodland W(SV-OT) - 42-0
