Kassidy Leiszler - Concordia’s groundbreaking wrestler

Kassidy Leiszler, at senior at Concordia High School (CHS), set a lot of firsts in wrestling this year. She was the first-ever girl wrestler from CHS to win a regional tournament; the first-ever CHS girl wrestler to compete at a KSHSAA state championships; and the first-ever girl from CHS to medal at state competition.
"It took a while for it all to sink in," she admits.
Though Leiszler fell one win short of the state championship she'd always dreamed of, she is proud of her accomplishment. But when asked what was her most memorable moment from the year, she cited the boys' wrestling team winning the league championship outright for the first time in 25 years.
"That was great," she said.
Leiszler became interested in wrestling when she was five years old. "I watched my brother wrestle a lot, and I just got interested in it. It was fun."
"She's always been little," said her mother, Christy Leiszler. "It was a way for her to compete."
With so few girls to compete against when she reached high school, Leiszler often wrestled against - and beat - boys. Many times Leiszler was the only girl wrestler at a meet.
When did she know she was good? "Probably by the time I was a sophomore I knew I was pretty good," she says modestly. "I trained really hard."
Leiszler was not intimidated by the competition at the state championships, or wrestling in front of a crowd that filled the Tony's Pizza Event Center in Salina.
"I just concentrated," Leiszler said. "I just thought about what I was going to do for the next match."
Leiszler intends to keep wrestling after high school.
"She's got some scholarship offers from four-year colleges," said mother Christy.
Leiszler loves animals, and plans on studying vet-tech in college. When asked to look ten years into the future, Leiszler saw herself still in the Concordia area, working with animals. "I like it here. I like the small town."

Kassidy Leiszler - Concordia's groundbreaking wrestler.