By FRED KRONER
Records are made to be broken, and there will be a day when Mary Kelly is no longer the girls’ wrestling all-time leader for career and season wins at Mahomet-Seymour.
But maybe her marks should remain with an asterisk by her name.
By the time she graduated in 2002, Kelly had earned 75 wins in her four-year varsity career and had a winning percentage in excess of 66 percent.
She posted a 29-win season as a junior and a 26-win season as a senior.
Here’s why her marks should remain in the record books.
Five years ago, Mahomet-Seymour formed a girls’ team for wrestling, with its own coach and with its own schedule. They have a full IHSA postseason tournament as well.
Girls wrestle girls.
None of this was possible when Kelly competed. She went to the mat against boys, meet after meet, year after year. Occasionally, by chance, her opponent happened to be a girl.
It’s easy to question: If Kelly was that successful against boys, how dominant would she have been against girls?
Her sincere interest in wrestling led to others throughout the state eventually getting involved, which then prompted the formation of teams by the IHSA for girls in the sport.
Whatever the record books reveal five years, 10 years or even 25 years from now, Kelly laid the groundwork for those who would follow her and that impact should never be diminished.
Without further ado, Mahomet-Seymour’s Quarter-Century girls’ wrestling team.
MADILYN BECKER, Class of 2026, 100 POUNDS. 15-16 record as a junior and sixth in the IWCOA girls’ state tournament.
JAYCEE FANCHER, 2027, 125 POUNDS. 20-10 overall record as a freshman when she was chosen as team Most Valuable Player
KALISTA GRANADINO, 2026, 115 POUNDS. Career record of 35-21 includes a 23-12 mark as a sophomore. Team MVP as a freshman.
MARY KELLY, 2002, 103 POUNDS. Career record of 75-36 competing against boys, including seasons of 29-13 as a junior, 26-13 as a senior and 16-8 as a sophomore.
ISABELLE LEYHE, 2024, 120 POUNDS. Career record of 56-46, including 21-5 as a senior. Placed eighth in the IWCOA girls’ state tournament.
SIERRA TUTTLE, 2028, 95 POUNDS. Record of 20-14 as a freshman and placed fifth at the IWCOA girls’ state tournament. Team’s most improved as a freshman.
JAYCEE WEITEKAMP, 2028, 190 POUNDS. Record of 19-16 as a freshman. Chosen as team MVP.
