Meridian High wrestling makes its debut

Published 5:41 pm Wednesday, December 17, 2025

The 2025 season marked the debut of the Meridian High School Wildcats in high school wrestling. 

Both the boys’ and girls’ teams had successful matches at the Region 3 Championship Duels at Oak Grove High School Dec. 5-6.

Coach Demetrius Hill, a seasoned coach at Meridian High School, led the teams to encouraging finishes. 

“The girls won and the boys fared well,” Hill said.

In Friday’s action, the boys’ and girls’ teams faced Oak Grove and Picayune.

Both teams must have eight matches by Jan. 10 in order to get a significant ranking before the regular season later next month.

Hill, a former MHS Wildcat and a 1990 graduate from Mississippi State, is a 30-year football and track coach at Meridian. He has also coached powerlifting at MHS, where his teams won nine state championships.

Hill said he was approached about a year ago by a group that included Meridian High School Athletic Director Cheyenne Trussell. He said there were no reservations when he was asked to be the school’s first-ever wrestling coach.

“After talking to Dr. Trussell,” Hill said, “I knew I had to start recruiting some people. I had to see how competitive the kids were. 

“This isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon,” Hill added.

Trussell said he knew he asked the right person when Hill agreed to be the coach.

“When you’ve got the right person, you just know it,” he said. “He’s been teaching the kids the basics and fundamentals of the sport.”

According to assistant coach LaToya Atterberry, the boys’ team currently has 20 wrestlers, while the girls’ team is made up of seven.

Atterberry said she believes both teams could have at least 20 wrestlers by the regular season.

“We just need to get the fundamentals and grow the sport,” Atterberry said.

She added that Hill and the rest of the coaches know the importance of teaching the kids before next month.

“We’re trying to take a lot of time with the kids,” she said. “We want to make an impact, and getting a higher seed next season will be a good way of doing that.”

Trussell said wrestling has “been on Meridian’s radar” since between 1987 and ’89.

“The sport has been growing,” Trussell said, “but to see it here, you’d have to go to the coast in Louisiana or Alabama.

“The sport is new, it’s refreshing,” Trussell added. “It’s been growing leaps and bounds.”

Trussell added that while football and basketball are the most common games at MHS, wrestling is sure to grow.

“It’ll grow as it’s promoted,” he said. “It’s just a matter of us introducing it.”

Hill echoed Trussell’s words.

“When I got the job, I knew it sounded interesting,” Hill said. “Our next goal next year is to have matches at home in our gym. We’re expecting to get four mats so we can have four matches at one time.”