Steve Kimpel is the founder of True Vision Wrestling and the Head Wrestling Coach at Colorado School of Mines, an NCAA II institution located in Golden, Colorado. Prior to accepting the position at CSM, Kimpel was the head coach at Wabash College from 2000-2002.
He has been instrumental in producing 8 NCAA All-Americans, including an 8th place finisher in the 2003 NCAA Division II National Championships. During a two-year stint as the assistant coach at Fort Hays State University (Kans.), his teams posted 9th and 10th place finishes in the 1997 & 1998 NCAA tournaments, respectively, the highest finishes in several years. He has also served as a Junior National Team Coach for Team Colorado in 1995 and 1996.
As an athlete Kimpel competed in collegiate, freestyle, and Greco-Roman wrestling. During 1995 and 1996, he trained at the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. During that time he was 4th at the 1995 Sunkist International Open at 68kg/149.5 lbs. While preparing for the 1996 Olympic regional qualifying tournaments, he was sidelined with a torn ACL, and was unable to compete. During a comeback attempt in 2000 Kimpel won two AAU national titles, one each in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling.
He won collegiate All-American honors 3 times at 158 lbs, twice for the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, and once for the University of Southern Colorado. Over the years he has been a place winner or champion in 18 regional- or national-level competitions in freestyle and Greco-Roman. In 1998, he was an alternate to the Junior World Greco-Roman Wrestling Team.
His professional preparation includes an undergraduate degree in English from the University of Southern Colorado, a master's degree in Physical Education (1998) from Fort Hays State University, and he is currently completing the research requirement for his PhD in Sport Science/Exercise Physiology form the University of Idaho. In 1994, he was a member of the NCAA II Scholar All-American team. He has authored 12 articles on nutrition, strength/conditioning and wrestling, which have appeared in magazines, newsletters and on Intermatwrestle.com, and he has conducted five academic research projects covering the same topics.
He has been a featured clinician for the High School Coaches' Association Fall Clinic for Wisconsin and Indiana (2001), and for Colorado (2002). In the last six years, he has been an advertised clinician and speaker in Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Steve is originally from Sparta, Wisconsin. His brother, Rob, was a teammate at Wisconsin-Parkside an earned All-American honors in 1993 at 150 lbs. He and his wife Julie, a former cross-country and track athlete for Wisconsin-Parkside, reside in Golden, Colorado, with their three daughters Courtney, Katrina, and Kayla.
