North Callaway’s Lane Kimbley went into Thursday’s Class 1 state wrestling finals like he has done it before.

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The senior went into this year’s competition at Mizzou Arena in Columbia as a three-time state medalist but hadn’t qualified for a state final before. Kimbley defeated Father Tolton’s Grant Anderson 8-3 in the 138-pound title match to become North Callaway’s first ever state champion, achieving history along with Collin Moore’s third-place at 144 pounds being the best finish ever for a Thunderbird freshman and Brooke Giboney’s appearance being the first ever for a Ladybird.

Of course, Kimbley didn’t take long to hug his father and head coach Ronnie Kimbley after the final whistle, creating an emotional North Callaway family moment for the second straight year after Eli Henry won his fifth-place state medal with his brother and then-assistant coach Jadon Henry in his corner.

“All of the hard work through all the years from youth all the way up to now finally paid off,” Kimbley said. “I like for it to be a goal for others to chase and accomplish to grow the sport.”

When Kimbley says ‘youth,’ he means he’s been wrestling since he was five years old. His father was reading the newspaper and asked Kimbley if he wanted to try wrestling. After a few practices at Fulton Wrestling Club, Kimbley said he “never looked back.”

Kimbley found out that the sport was a good fit for his “competitive sense” and has felt that way ever since. His desire for competition is so insatiable that Kimbley intends on wrestling for William Woods University after high school.

“What really did it was the one-on-one (format),” Kimbley said. “All of the pressure is on you to perform. You’re not relying on anybody else.”

There were multiple layers to the 138-pound championship match, starting with Kimbley facing off against an opponent he lost a district title to just a few days prior by a 10-2 major decision. Adding on to that, Ross Rosenbaum and Henry were in Anderson’s corner after previously serving as coaches for Kimbley and North Callaway. Ronnie Kimbley said the atmosphere on the mat was “professional” and there was “tremendous” respect shared between both sides.

Even with all these factors present, Kimbley said his son didn’t seem to be affected that much by any of it, which helped create such a “magical” moment. Since placing fourth at state in junior high, Kimbley has had dreams of being a state champion so his father was glad to see it happen.

“It all started back in the tunnel with how calm he was,” Ronnie Kimbley said. “The nerves weren’t getting to him, and I could see the confidence in him. When he toed the line at the start, it was sheer determination. When he finally got his hand raised, it was a cool moment to see all of his goals be accomplished.”

Lane Kimbley said he has wanted to be in the best position to score points, helping prevent him from being pinned at state since his freshman year. This has helped him stay ahead even in a tight situation like in his 1-0 quarterfinal win over Butler’s Damian Alkire. Kimbley won that rematch from a year ago and knew he needed to be in a better spot in his rematch with Anderson.

“I felt confident and wasn’t really nervous,” Lane Kimbley said. “I attacked first instead of waiting back for him. That put him on his heels and shocked him a bit. When he finally did come at me, I just took what he gave me. I capitalized on what he did and made it into the best situation for me.”

Moore is just starting his high school career but was a 40-match winner along with Kimbley, and at the end of this season, earned a third-place medal. Kimbley finished fourth as a freshman to make Moore the best performing freshman at state in school history but wants to make it clear that was possible thanks to a certain wrestling partner.

“Lane taught me a lot this year and pushed me,” Moore said. “I don’t think I would be where I was without the partner I had this year. I wrestled completely differently than I did last year.”

Moore said Kimbley showed him how to counter moves better, among other things, which all added up to Moore having high expectations for the rest of his career. Even when facing a tense overtime moment against Lathrop’s Keaton Coots following a 6-1 loss to eventual state champion Gable Gross of St. Pius X (Kansas City), Moore came out with the sudden victory 4-2.

“I hadn’t fully removed myself from my last match,” Moore said. “I probably should’ve left it where it was, learned from it and moved on. I got in decent position but couldn’t really finish anything. I kept pushing and with 15 seconds left, I got the two to send into overtime, kept wrestling and got the two to win the match.”

Ronnie Kimbley could tell Moore is a three-sport athlete — football, wrestling and track — just by looking at his agility on the mat and complimenting him on all of his work in the weight room. Kimbley said 190-pounder Casper Safranski, who qualified for state his second time, also worked hard but had a back injury he sustained in districts. Despite that, Safranki was one match away from a state medal but lost by 4-2 sudden victory in overtime to Lift for Life’s Braxton Sneed in third-round wrestlebacks, which impressed his coach.

“He actually didn’t practice all week,” Ronnie Kimbley said. “He was getting treatment before and after every match. I was his lower back too so it didn’t really matter where he was on the mat, whether he was his feet, top or bottom, it killed him. Casper is a very energetic and outgoing personality and when he’s just sitting there not really doing a lot or saying a lot, you know he’s definitely in some pain.”

Giboney had to overcome the “overwhelming” environment of state, as Ronnie Kimbley called it, and matters didn’t help with her tough draw of the eventual 105-pound state champion Bailey Martin, of Kearney, in her first match and then third-place Aleah Conard, of El Dorado Springs, in her second. Kimbley said the 0-2 record and first-day exit still gives the sophomore valuable experience.

“In her next round, that girl we saw at the Battle at the Katy Trail and she pinned us in 35-45 seconds and we went three rounds (10-0 major decision),” Kimbley said. “You could see the grit from Match 1 to Match 2, and the environment didn’t matter anymore.”

Moore, Safranski and Giboney each have their goals for next season, and like Lane Kimbley, they want to pass on their goals to others for the good of the program.

“I want to push other kids, teach other kids and give them something to chase,” Moore said.

Ronnie Kimbley said a “huge list” of people other than him are responsible for turning his son into the accomplished wrestler he is, including coaches and trainers in Fulton, Mexico and Columbia, and with Purler Wrestling Academy and North Callaway. He would have been there to see his son win at all but feels fortunate he was in the best position on the mat.

“Thank God for the blessing,” Ronnie Kimbley said after an emotional pause. “It was awesome to be able to be the dad, the coach and a friend.”