The Yellow Jacket varsity Boys and Girls wrestling squads travel to the MHSAA State Individual Meet this weekend at St. Martin High School in Ocean Springs. Eight Jacket wrestlers qualified to move on to state competition at last week's North Half Individual Meet after ranking in the top eight. Qualifiers will compete for State rankings and a possible bid for Nationals on Friday.
All five Girls wrestlers who competed for the Jackets at North State qualified to move to the state competition. Dakota Palmer and Caileigh Nichols placed 2nd in North State in their weight classes. Rakayla Brown, who competed at Nationals in 2024, placed 3rd, and Lucy Stelios-Wills and Staci Bramme each placed 5th in their classes.
Jacket Boys Wrestling saw three student athletes qualify for state. Jaelyn Hilton placed 4th, and Will Oliver placed 6th. Carson Hayes qualified as a wild card competitor.
[Front row: Jaelyn Hinton, Will Oliver, Carson Hayes. Back row: AJ Caldiero (Assistant Coach), Caileigh Nichols, Lucy Stelios-Wills, Dakota Palmer, Rakayla Brown, Donnie Buckner (Head Coach). State qualifier not pictured: Staci Bramme]
"We're really excited for our wrestlers," said Donnie Buckner, Head Jacket Wrestling Coach. "They've done really well and worked hard. They are focused and they're ready to go."
"We're proud to have eight wrestlers who qualified for state this year," said AJ Caldiero, Assistant Jacket Wrestling Coach. "Our qualifiers range from 114 to 235 weight class for girls and 126 to 150 for our boys. As the program gets bigger both in Starkville and statewide, it's become harder to qualify for state. This year there were 175 boys competing at North State and about 90 girls who participated in the individual meet. So, we're proud to have eight wrestlers who placed in the top eight to qualify to move on."
In only its third year of competition, Jacket Wrestling has been part of raising the profile of one of the newest MHSAA high school competitive sports. The Yellow Jackets have seen state qualifiers each year since beginning the team, and student athletes who participate represent a wide range of interests for both boys and girls.
"I'm excited to learn about how the Jacket Wrestling team has grown over the last three years," said newly named Jacket Director of Athletics, Jay Hopson. "It's impressive that we have sent Jacket wrestlers to state each year."
Coach Hopson visited the team's last practice before state on Wednesday to offer his encouragement.
"We're extremely proud of the work you all have put in, and what a great accomplishment to have eight wrestlers qualify to move on to state," he told the team. "I'm proud of how you will represent the Yellow Jackets and Starkville High down at St. Martin. Go Jackets!"
The boys and girls student captains commented on the team's level of confidence going into the state competition weekend and believe the training will pay off.
"The season has been pretty good for me," Girls team captain, Dakota Palmer, shared. "I feel like my hard work is showing. I'm hoping this year that I at least get third in state. I feel prepared and ready to rock and roll."
Palmer was a top three finisher last year in the State Wrestling rankings for girls in her weight class. For this season, she also joined the SHS Powerlifting team, and she says she thinks that has added more strength to her wrestling game.
"Last year I was lacking in upper body strength," she said, "so I joined Powerlifting to build that up to hopefully help me powerhouse through more opponents in competition this year."
Jaelyn Hinton is in his second year on the Jacket Wrestling team, and serves as Boys captain.
"My season is a big improvement this year," Hinton said. "I've learned a lot more and tweaked a lot more of my skills. I've been looking forward to going to state and the opportunity to compete there."
Although he has only competed for the last two seasons, Hinton still considers himself a pioneer in bringing the sport to life at Starkville High. He values learning from team members who were a part of the Jacket presence from the beginning, but also feels responsibility to train and teach newer members of the team. He credits the coaching staff with preparing them to compete with confidence in a sport that is relatively new in Mississippi high school athletics.
"Our coaches, honestly, bring peace to the team," Hinton said. "They bring organization. Without our coaches, we would be everywhere. But, they are teaching us wrestling skills and also discipline. We wouldn't be where we are without them."
Jacket Wrestling will begin state competition on Friday afternoon.