Independence’s Kenleigh Trumblee leaning into wrestling in a time of grief, sorrow

Just over 10 months ago, Independence junior Kenleigh Trumblee was competing in the Wamac Conference tournament against Lucianna Miller from Solon — a match she won by fall in 1:02 to earn third place.

Trumblee remembers getting a text from her mother, Erin, after that match that read, “you go girl, great job.”

That text message would be the last interaction Trumblee would have with her mother, who died from a heart attack on Jan. 20. According to Erin’s obituary, she “was a beautiful soul and the best mom, daughter, sister, and friend that anyone could ever hope for.”

With the Mustangs in the thick of postseason action, Trumblee faced a unique challenge — to either forgo the remainder of the season or continue wrestling.

She chose the latter, but not without some encouragement and support from her family and teammates.

“I had a chance to turn down wrestling at regionals the next week,” she said. “I decided I wanted to keep going, and I talked to my teammates about it, and they thought it would be awesome to push through. My dad got some T-shirts made, and it was an amazing feeling.”

After all, it was her family that got her interested in wrestling, specifically her older brother, Tyler, who has also wrestled for the Mustangs.

“My older brother wrestled with all the big kids,” Trumblee said. “He really inspired me, and my family is huge into wrestling, so I knew I wanted to (wrestle).”

In a time of grief and sorrow, Trumblee leaned on the sport of wrestling to help her not only heal but also learn an important life lesson.

“It helped me a lot with my frustration,” she said. “It also taught me there’s a lot bigger things in life. If I can get through this, I can get through anything.”

As fate would have it, exactly 10 months after her mom died, Trumblee found herself facing another foe from Solon during the Mustangs’ first outing of the 2024-25 season during a triangular with the host Spartans and Center Point-Urbana.

In her first two matches of the year, Trumblee won by fall against Center Point-Urbana’s Taylor Hoskins in 3:19 and Solon’s Alexis Anderson in 3:58.

She felt her performance was a good start and a chance to compete as a team.

“I think the first match went really well,” Trumblee said. “It was a good test for me. Duals are my favorite part about wrestling, because we are one big family that gets to work together.”

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Independence Coach Cole Zempel was confident in Trumblee’s effort on her first night out.

“One good thing about her is that she just stays focused on the match,” Zempel said. “She kept looking to score another point. I always try to harp on us scoring more points, and she did a good job of that.”

Zempel, in his first year leading the Mustangs’ girls’ wrestling program, already has noticed the type of teammate Trumblee is and what she brings to the team.

“She’s definitely a voice in our room,” Zempel said. “She wants to run our warm-ups. She likes wrestling and is all in on it. She’s not trying it out – she knows she likes it and wants to do it.”

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While it’s still early in the season, Zempel has high hopes for Trumblee, specifically making a transition to her offense and scoring. He believes she has her defense under control.

“She’s got to keep working on those positions,” he said. “As we progress, I really want to see her set the tone with her offense and use her defensive skills when she needs to.”

As for her expectations for the year, Trumblee is keeping it rather simple.

“I can’t wait to compete, get on the mat, work hard and kick some butt,” she said.