North Callaway wrestling is family — from a figurative and literal sense.

State Meet Day 1 Photo Gallery

State Meet Day 2 Photo Gallery

Two Thunderbirds with some strong family upbringings in wrestling earned medals at Thursday’s Class 1 MSHSAA boys state championships at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, including Lane Kimbley in third place at 132 pounds and Eli Henry in fifth place at 157 pounds. The third North Callaway qualifier, Casper Safranski, advanced to Day 2 but lost the match that would’ve clinched him a medal.

Head coach Ronnie Kimbley said his family’s blood is coursing through the program, with his son, Lane, clinching his third state medal in as many years, but so is several other families. His assistant coach, Jadon Henry, returned to North Callaway after coaching at Father Tolton. Henry was a two-time state medalist and four-time state qualifier as a Thunderbird and had the pleasure of coaching his brother, Eli, during his senior season.

“We’re not a program without where (the Henry family) is with us,” Kimbley said. “As far as Lane, I try to separate that as a parent and I’m there as a coach. (Jadon) does the same with his brother. We’ve been around each other so long that it’s one big family.”

“Both of our families have put a lot of time and a lot of effort into this program,” Henry said

Kimbley, who has been wrestling since he was five years old, tore through the bracket outside of a 6-2 semifinal loss to Noah Gonzalez, of St. Pius X (Kansas City). Gonzalez returned as a state champion and left this year as state champion, but Kimbley was able to win his next two matches via 7-0 and 2-0 decisions.

Henry credits Kimbley having a short memory as the loss could’ve been carried with him but didn’t adversely affect the junior.

“I just let it fly,” Lane Kimbley said. “I just didn’t hold anything back. On top, I definitely broke harder with a tight waist. In neutral (position), I just finished my shot.”

While Kimbley battled his opponents, Eli Henry had another opponent he had to tangle with all tournament: his health. In his first match of the season, Kimbley said Henry was thrown out of bounds and landed on his opponent’s knee, compromising his ribs.

Henry said he dislocated his ribs that day, and on Wednesday, he landed on another knee to tear an abdomen muscle and a rib muscle to add to his list of ailments. He said he is no stranger to dealing with pain as he broke his back when he was younger, so for his senior year, he powered through.

“I forget about when I’m wrestling, but when we stop, it’s killer,” Henry said. “It was definitely a lot more difficult than wrestling normally, but I wanted it so I decided to keep fighting.”

“Wrestling is one of the toughest sports there is. To have all those injuries, that just goes to that boy’s heart,” Ronnie Kimbley said. “It was his senior year, he had no give up, and he was going to do everything it took.”

After losing a 4-0 decision to fourth-place medalist, Adrian’s Michael McCoy, Henry won his next two bouts, including an 8-6 nailbiter against Trenton’s Gavin Chambers to clinch a podium spot.

Henry’s pinfall over Maysville’s Brendan Barton gave him his fifth-place medal but also a good memory. He ran into the arms of his teary-eyed brother in what was his final match as a Thunderbird.

“It was a special year,” Henry said. “We were all excited. He pushed us. We had our brotherly battles, but at the end of day, we love each other. It was fun to share that with him.”

Safranski is another name that has become synonymous with North Callaway wrestling as Casper made his first trip to state to follow an appearance by his older brother, Carson, who wrestled his senior season this year. Kimbley said there are two more Safranskis in the pipeline so expect to see that name often in the future.

Safranski lost a 1-0 decision in his first match to second-place 190-pounder Max Heintz, of Maysville.

“His first match, you can always tell (where there are nerves) because it happened to me every year,” Jadon Henry said. “The first match, you go out there and the second period, you’re dead — everything drains out of you. It’s not the fact that you’re tired, it’s nerves drain all your energy.”

He came back with a 4-1 decision and pinfall before losing a 7-1 decision to South Callaway’s Eli Benningfield — a returning state qualifier. The sophomore Safranski is someone North Callaway is eager to bring back next season.

“He had an injury last year — wiped him out for the season and didn’t wrestle at all,” Kimbley said. “For him to come in and have the season he did, that was big.”