Photo courtesy of Tim Walters | TMK Sports Photography

For the second year in a row, 14 local athletes qualified for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Wrestling Championships.

A year ago two of those athletes won state championships, but Maple Grove’s Matt Trim was not among those atop the podium.

However, in his final shot at the state title, Trim reached the highest of the 14 defeating Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama/Clymer’s Mason Maring for the Division II 215-pound championship at MVP Arena in Albany last month.

That is why the Maple Grove senior is the OBSERVER/Post-Journal 2024 Wrestler of the Year.

Trim’s goal was to finish higher than his brother Zak, who reached fifth place for the Red Dragons at 195 pounds in 2018.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Trim said after winning the state title. “My goal was always to beat my brother who took fifth his senior year, I took eighth last year. I knew I needed to one up him this year.”

It wasn’t even in his mind that he or Maring would be competing for a state title when the pair practiced all week leading up to the tournament.

“We wrestled all week in practice,” Trim added. “Neither one of us really thought we had a chance at the podium, (let alone) the top. We thought we might place.”

Trim was seeded to match his brother at No. 5 and in order to guarantee a spot higher on the podium he had to get through top-seeded Sean Kelly of Section III’s Lowville in the semifinals.

Through three periods, the score was tied 1-1 and it was in sudden-victory overtime when Trim secured a takedown for the 3-1 victory to accomplish his first goal of beating his brother’s best placement at states.

Trim found himself in a spot he was familiar with all season, guaranteed for either first or second place at the tournament. Trim secured six first-place finishes at tournaments this year and his only two losses in the entire season came in tournament finals as he amassed a 45-2 record.

Trim’s first loss was in the finals of the 22nd annual Matthew Marino Invitational on Dec. 2 at Webster Schroeder High School. He dropped the 215-pound final to Iroquois’ Trevor Barry by 2-1 decision.

The following weekend, Trim secured his first tournament victory beating Maring by 6-4 decision at the 36th annual STWOA Kickoff Wrestling Classic at Jamestown Community College.

Then, on Jan. 6, Trim was dealt what would be his last loss of the season in the 215-pound final of the 30th annual Ripley Invitational at Chautauqua Lake, suffering a 4-2 decision to eventual NYSPHSAA Division I third-place finisher at 215 pounds, Kahmari Cook of Lafayette.

Trim then won the 23rd annual Patrick J. Morales Memorial Tournament, defeating Maring again, this time by pinfall at 3:52.

He also won the Gowanda Invitational with a quicker pinfall at 1:01 against Franklinville’s Levi Jennings.

Proving his dominance in Section VI, Trim first earned a victory by pinfall in the 215-pound final of the Class C/D Championships against Southwestern’s Brayden Potter in 3:05. Then, in the Section VI Division II state qualifier, Trim defeated Maring for the third time in a final, pinning him at 3:39.

“One match at a time,” Maple Grove head coach Josh Reed said about Trim and Maring. “Nothing is ever taken for granted. These two are friends off the mat and I respect that they battle every time they get on the mat. They can put the friendship away for a moment, battle, come off the mat, come in for a big hug and be proud of each other.”

After the state qualifier, Trim would win one more match by pinfall, but his run to the top of the podium was near flawless.

In his first bout against Jared Haers of Palmyra-Macedon, he grinded out a 4-0 decision with first- and third-period takedowns. Then, his final pin of the year was against Christian Solano of Eagle Academy in the quarterfinals. After going down 2-0, it was all Trim, securing a pin and a nearfall to finish 4-2 in the first period. Then he closed out his 6-2 lead in the second period with a pin at 2:21.

Against Kelly, Trim gave up just an escape in his 3-1 win and he was dominant against Maring in the finals earning an 11-0 decision.

“It means the world,” Reed said about Trim becoming the state champion. “It means absolutely everything. I’m most excited for him, just because of his work ethic. I tell him all the time, nobody works as hard as you. I’m just proud to see what he’s done, him actually believing in himself, not having a doubt and he went there and he did it. We’re proud of him.”