The lead-up to the school year was busy for Landri Von Gonten, who attends The Woodlands College Park High School in suburban Houston.
She went to the U17 World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, and took second place for Team USA. She was one of three finalists for Team USA.
After that, she left Texas to head to Ames, Iowa, to take a college visit with Iowa State.
Another visit is upcoming for the 3-time UIL State Champion, who won two at College Park and one at College Station A&M Consolidated.
Von Gonten talked with WrestlingTexas about the trip to the World Championships and looked ahead to the 2026-27 wrestling season.
Von Gonten has wrestled in Panama before, but this was a new experience wrestling in the largest city and capital of Azerbaijan.
She went 4-1 at the tournament with two dominating wins and two close wins to reach the finals.
“It was a lot to experience since it was my first time overseas compared to Panama; it was just different- the culture and the environment and just everything over there was different,” she said.
She said the weather was similar to what you’d expect in Texas. The city was large — 2.2 million people — and had many of the things you’d expect of a large city, like malls and large buildings. Located near the Caspian Sea, there was also another part of the trip that became a memory for Von Gonten.
That was the wind.
“It was super windy, like a lot of wind … like I’m exaggerating the windy, it was like 60 miles per hour,” she said.
In terms of wrestling, she opened with a pin in 2:27 against Avanshika Avanshika from India in her first match. The second match was a 10-0 tech fall over Marisa Iturrino in what was an All-Texas showdown. Iturrino was representing Puerto Rico and wrestles at Carrollton Creekview High School in the Dallas area.
Von Gonten secured an 8-6 win over Kamila Temiraeva from Russia in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, she overcame a 3-0 deficit against Aruzhan Bakytnuy of Kazakhstan to win 7-6.
Von Gonten scored the final two points of the match to move to the finals. In the gold medal match, she lost to Ozdenur Ozmez of Türkiye by a 10-0 tech fall.
“It meant a lot, especially going across the sea and representing the USA,” she said of competing in the event. “Knowing that I was competing for something I’ve never competed for before, a world title, so it’s definitely quite different than what I’ve ever been to. My nerves were like at the highest they’ve ever been, and so just going there and learning that I have to restart from like day one, trying to control my nerves over there and not get in my head. Just go out there and wrestle like it’s just another match.
She added, “I knew it was important. It was a big deal and not many girls get this opportunity in their wrestling career. Whenever I did get nervous, I just reminded myself of the gratitude and how I got there and the people who’ve supported me.”
Von Gonten competed at the USA Wrestling Women’s National Championships in April, winning the 61 kg bracket, beating Isabella Miller in the finals. Those results were flipped at the U.S. Open, when Miller beat Von Gonten by a tiebreaker in the championship match in the 135-pound bracket.
Von Gonten took first in the Pan-Am Team Trials as well.
She heads into the season with a chance to be the 5th UIL girl wrestler to win four straight titles.
“I wouldn’t really say nervous, but really just like keeping focus and keeping it in my head,” she said of history being within her reach. “I have a goal and I’m going to work to go achieve that goal. Very few high school women wrestlers have done it and I was to be part of that group.”
The next thing up is to continue on the recruiting trail. On Oct. 2, she heads to Bethlehem — but not overseas — the one in Pennsylvania for a visit with Lehigh University.
The school recently hired a Texan as an assistant coach – Kaylynn Albrecht.
The Iowa State trip was her first official recruiting trip. She’s learned the recruiting process for women’s wrestling is a little different than she has seen with her high school teammates on the boys’ side, where a lot commit before the start of their junior season.
“It’s been great talking to all of the coaching staffs and just seeing all the different types of wrestling rooms, environments and team cultures that there are,” she said.
