For Trey Kimball, the last school bell of the day is typically not the last bell he answers to. The Camden High School senior spends his morning as an honor student in the Madison-Oneida BOCES Heavy Equipment Operation program, and takes classes at the high school in the afternoon. And that’s just the beginning.
Once the school day ends, Kimball trades his school shoes for wrestling shoes and takes on a different persona as one of New York State’s most relentless competitors in the sport of wrestling.
Getting there has been a longer road than most others in the sport. That’s because he was introduced to the sport at a very young age. His father, Ed (Class of 1997), wrestled for Camden and was one of the Section’s top wrestlers in the mid-1990s.
After a stint as a collegiate wrestler, the elder Kimball came home and ultimately became the head coach at his Alma Mater.
That gave a very young Trey an opportunity to become immersed in his eventual choice of sport. He was tagging along to practices, and looking up to the older guys gave him something to aspire to.
“It was pretty sick,” Kimball said. “I would come to practice and I’d say ‘I want to be like them’.... It was a pretty sweet experience with my dad being the head coach. He brought me in and I’ve loved it ever since.”
With wrestling firmly in his bloodline, it didn’t take long for Kimball to become a championship contender in Section III.
He made the varsity squad as an eighth grader, and won the first eight matches of his varsity career on the way to a runner-up finish in the 99 pound weight class in the Section III Division II Championships. That held the door open for an at-large appearance in the New York State Championship tournament.
The following year, he won the Section III Class B and Section III Division II Championships in the same weight classification, and lost two matches the entire season as a freshman.
Despite having his sophomore season wiped out due to the ongoing pandemic, Kimball remained as dominant as before when Section III’s wrestlers returned to the mat for the 2021-22 season. He moved up to the 126 pound weight class and captured his second sweep of the Section III Class B and Division II crowns, and went on to finish third in the state with just two losses on the season.
One of those losses came while wrestling up in weight class, while the other happened in the state tournament against the eventual champion. Making the state tournament even more special was the opportunity to attend with teammate Joshua Salsman, who received an at-large invitation in the 285 pound class.
At the outset of his senior year, Kimball snagged the 100th win of his career at the Bill Andersen tournament hosted by Cicero-North Syracuse. He went on to win the tournament title at 132 pounds. His focus on his long-term goals made him, at first, unaware of his career milestone.
“To be honest, I didn’t even realize it,” Kimball said. “My dad came up to me and said ‘Congrats on your 100th win’. I really don’t keep track of my stats. It’s not really something that matters to me. I’ve just gotta go out there and grind, wrestle, and do whatever it takes to win.”
That ultimate goal is the pursuit of Camden’s first-ever state championship in wrestling. Head Coach Bill Sullivan believes his senior star has demonstrated the mentality and growth trajectory needed to get the job done. He’s been preparing Trey for the moment by wrestling him at 132 and 138 pounds, wherever he believes he can find the tougher match on a given day.
“Trey’s a tough, mean wrestler,” Sullivan said. “That’s a good thing because that’s what it takes to be at the top… He’s grown so much in the past few years, it’s unbelievable. He’s really grown into a young man.”
That growth has led Kimball to consider his future beyond the mat. Kimball has chosen to forego the fanfare of college wrestling opportunities in favor of working towards a lucrative career in the trades. He has been accepted to the Universal Technical Institute to study welding next year.
However his road ends in the ring, Trey will walk off the mat having upheld the program’s legacy of success.
“Wrestling’s been pretty big in our community,” Sullivan said. “We’ve had some real powerhouse teams in the past few years and a lot of people with success. To have Trey come in and fill the role of some of those past guys has been great.”