Mahomet-Seymour girls’ wrestling team places second at IHSA Regionals

By Fred Kroner

Regional champions Isabelle Leyhe and Jaycee Fancher are among the four Mahomet-Seymour wrestlers who qualified for the IHSA girls’ sectional wrestling tournament.

The 120-pound Leyhe and the 125-pound Fancher were victorious in their weight classes in the 45-school regional at Mount Zion on Friday (Jan. 26).

Leyhe (18-2), who had two matches, and Fancher (18-6), who had three bouts, each pinned their way through the tournament.

Teammates who advanced to the sectional were Kalista Granadino (who was fifth at 115 pounds and registered two pins and one technical fall to account for her three tourney wins) and Grace Ribbe (who was third at 190 pounds and landed pins for both of her wins).

Granadino had a 19-8 season record. Ribbe has a 9-5 record.

Also participating at the regional for the Bulldogs was Lilyan Daniels (130 pounds).

M-S was the regional runner-up with 90 ½ points. Meet champion Peoria Richwoods had 204 points. Richwoods had entries in all 14 weight classes. M-S had five wrestlers compete at the regional.

Overall, the M-S regional entries had a combined record of 10-7 with all 10 wins coming on pins.

In the third year of the IHSA-sponsored state wrestling series for girls, the number of schools statewide with girls’ wrestling has increased from 180 in 2022 to 356 this year.

The M-S sectional qualifiers will return to action on Friday (Feb. 9) in the two-day tournament at Richwoods.