A pair of titles by Bishop Carroll twins highlight City League wrestling championship
Nearly five years had passed since the last time Cadence Means had been on a wrestling mat.
She started wrestling because her twin brother, Caleb, started in the second grade, but stopped when she was the only girl left on her club team. When she became a manager for the Bishop Carroll wrestling team to support her brother, she started missing the adrenaline rush.
“Every time I would go to my brother’s tournaments and duals, I would still get that really excited feeling of wanting to be on the mat,” Cadence said. “I would get these flashbacks.”
When Carroll formed its first girls wrestling team this season, just in time for Cadence’s senior year, she was ready to make the most of it.
It was a good day for the Means twins on Saturday at the City League wrestling meet at Wichita North, as they swept the 138-pound titles with Caleb and Cadence both winning their first city titles.
“It’s definitely a really cool thing to have your sister be a City League champion too,” Caleb said. “It’s kind of funny because my friends will make fun of me, saying my sister is better than me. To me, it’s just more competition.”
It’s a friendly rivalry between the two. They’re not motivated necessarily by one-upping the other, but they view the other’s success as a motivation to do the same.
It’s worked: Caleb has a 32-9 record on the season and Cadence is 26-3 and ranked No. 6 in the latest KWCA 6-5A rankings.
“We definitely both have the ‘If they can do it, then I can too’ mentality,” Cadence said.
Caleb’s title also helped Carroll capture its second straight City League team title. Caleb was one of five individual champions for the Golden Eagles, joining Caden Denton (106), Karston Wall (120), Ryan Pacha (145) and Antonio Huerta (160).
Carroll scored 227 team points, more than 61 points better than second-place Kapaun Mt. Carmel, thanks to sending a total of 10 wrestlers to the finals, which included runner-up finishes from Gianni Huerta (132), Sam Duling (152), Isaac Arredondo (170), Broc Eastman (195) and Hank Purvis (285).
“All of the hard work has paid off in the room,” Caleb Means said. “We all came together and got this done. It means a lot because all of the times coach (Kyle) Cline pushed us and made us practice really hard. It was a great feeling.”
With the boys and girls finals going simultaneously, it made for a special moment when the twins were able to capture their championships back-to-back in the same weight division.
After begging previous wrestling coaches and athletic administration for a girls team, a moment like that was what Cadence had been dreaming of.
“After I saw Caleb win, I was like, ‘Well, I guess it’s my turn now,’” Cadence said. “We’ve got to have both of the 138-pounders.”
Wrestling has become a family affair in the Means family, as Caleb and Cadence are joined on the Carroll wrestling team by the second pair of twins in the family, Eli and Lexi, who are freshmen.
It’s made for a year that Cadence says she’ll never forget.
“I’ll always remember this season for how tough it’s been and how good it’s been for the whole family,” Cadence said. “And just being on this team in general. It’s the first girls team in Carroll history and that’s something I’ll always remember.”
Kapaun was able to match Carroll with five individual boys champions in Bubba Wright (126), Austin Ruda (132), Adrian Turner (152), Omari Elias (170) and Nathan Fury (182). Other league champions in the boys meet were North’s Richard Shields (113), Northwest’s Zach Morford (195), Northwest’s Caden Ross (220) and South’s Matt Godsey (285).
North dominated the girls tournament, scoring 171 team points, 63 more than second-place Kapaun, behind five champions in Bilhah Bengi (101), Larissa Garcia (109), Rodah Bengi (115), Diana Urista (120) and Jaycee Tyler (143). Other league champions in the girls meet were East’s Haley Somchay (126), Northwest’s Lillianna Gallegos (132), South’s Delilah Sherbin (155), Kapaun’s Gianna Redcorn (170), Kapaun’s Catherine Burr (191) and West’s Druzzla Johnson (235).
City League boys wrestling results
Teams—Carroll 227, Kapaun 165.5, Northwest 133, North 105, West 101, East 61, South 29, Southeast 25, Heights 0.
106—Denton, Carroll, pinned Garrett, West, 3:26; 113—Shields, North, maj. Dec. Monaco, Kapaun, 18-8; 120—Wall, Carroll, pinned Gutierrez, North, 4:24; 126—Wright, Kapaun, pinned Brown, West, 1:03; 132—Ruda, Kapaun, pinned, G. Huerta, Carroll, 2:39; 138—Means, Carroll, maj. dec. Lewis, Northwest, 16-4; 145—Pacha, Carroll, dec. Otarighobe, Kapaun, 7-3; 152—Turner, Kapaun, pinned Duling, Carroll, 3:16; 160—A. Huerta, Carroll, pinned Alvardo, North, 1:21; 170—Elias, Kapaun, dec. Arredondo, Carroll, 8-3; 182—Fury, Kapaun, tech. fall Everett, East, 19-3; 195—Morford, Northwest, pinned Eastman, Carroll, 5:33; 220—Ross, Northwest, pinned Aranda, North, 1:40; 285—Godsey, South, dec. Purvis, Carroll, 9-5.
City League girls wrestling results
Teams—North 171, Kapaun 108, Northwest 80, Southeast 58, Carroll 57.5, Heights 51, West 36, South 29, East 19.
101—B. Bengi, North, pinned Gonzales, Heights, 2:32; 109—Garcia, North, dec. Rubio, West, 7-0; 115—R. Bengi, North, pinned Do, Kapaun, 3:45; 120—Urista, North, pinned Buyno, Heights, 5:18; 126—Somchay, East, dec. Martinez, Northwest, 7-5; 132—Gallegos, Northwest, pinned Arellano, North, 3:33; 138—C. Means, Carroll, dec. Johnson, Kapaun, 10-5; 143—Tyler, North, pinned Owens, Kapaun, 1:09; 155—Sherbin, South, pinned Valdovinos, Northwest, 2:57; 170—Redcorn, Kapaun, dec. Allen, Southeast, 8-5; 191—Burr, Kapaun, pinned Johnson, Heights, 4:12; 235—Johnson, West, pinned Jasenthuleanage, North, 1:23.
This story was originally published February 6, 2022 at 2:00 PM.
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