“I came into this tournament with a very high goal of, ‘I want to be a state place winner,” Schmitz said. Freshman Merci Scholten was also a state qualifier for the Norwalk girls at 110. Following the district meet in Norwalk, Esparza told KNIA Sports that he is pleased by his year-to-year progress on the mats. Three other Norwalk boys also qualified for State: senior Asaiah Martinez at 126 pounds, junior Blake Stanford at 132 and senior Kale Wadle at 150. Martinez won a pair of state matches and Stanford finished the year with 36 wins.