Wichita North high school boys soccer wins first City League championship
After nearly a decade of chasing, Wichita North boys soccer coach Curt Wullschleger finally found what he was looking for on Tuesday night.
Wichita North has always been a proud soccer program, one that even has a state title to its name dating back to 1989. But the one thing missing for the program’s resume? A City League championship.
That changed on Tuesday night when Wichita North completed an undefeated run through City League competition, capped by a 2-1 road win over second-place Kapaun Mount Carmel, to capture its first league title in program history.
“Have you ever worked on a project for nine years and finally see it come to fruition,” asked Wullschleger, a 1994 North graduate who returned to his alma mater nearly a decade ago. “This was my number one goal from Day One. I wanted to do something that’s never been done here before. To finally break through with this group and to win it, man, it’s really hard to put into words.”
It’s not a surprise that this group was the one to break through for North, which boasts 17 seniors — almost all who have played together since they were children.
“We identified this group as freshmen that they were going to be pretty special,” Wullschleger said. “By the time they got to me, they already knew our culture and they knew what they’re doing with the ball. We knew they could play, so we put them in our system and had the right combinations and the right chemistry of players. The starting lineup we used tonight has basically been set since the summer.”
On Tuesday, North took control of the game less than four minutes in when Emiliano Gallo scored the game’s first goal. North took a 2-0 lead 10 minutes later when sophomore defender Jehovah Dijimtotinine netted just his second goal of the season on a corner.
It’s been a familiar formula to the one North used all season to overpower opponents to a 13-1-1 record. Senior forward Uriel Aguilera-Fernandez leads the City League in scoring (23 goals, 7 assists), while junior Alvaro Quezada (10 assists), senior Arturo Veliz (8 goals), senior Francisco Lopez, senior Sergio Olguin-Romero and senior Sergio Najera-Garcia have all played key roles this season. North has also only allowed seven total goals this season, led by strong defense from Ilian Martinez-Valenciana, Raul Reyes and Ivan Gallegos with Jesse Ortiz in goal.
After the game, Wullschleger said he received more than 110 text messages of congratulations — support that blew him away.
“Our balance of play and quality shined through this whole season,” Wullschleger said. “I’m so proud of the guys and anybody that has had a hand in building North High soccer, whether it’s the players, the coaches, the parents. I was very touched to see how many alumni showed up for the game. To see that kind of support and be a part of this kind of historic moment, it was incredibly touching.”
This story was originally published October 20, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
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