Mizzou commit Mekhi Wingo finishes HS career as Gatorade Missouri Football Player of the Year
ST. LOUIS (BVM) — Mekhi Wingo is a special talent. So special, that he’s already drawing comparisons to one of the best defensive players in the NFL today.
“I know this isn’t fair to the kid, but Mekhi Wingo is the high school version of (Los Angeles Rams seven-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle) Aaron Donald,” St. Louis University High head coach Mike Jones said in a press release. “He’s just an outstanding defensive tackle. He’s explosive off the ball and constantly plays in the backfield of the offense.”
For Wingo, it’s a comparison to be proud of, as Donald is one of the players he looks to emulate on the gridiron.
“I’m an elite pass rusher with my initial get-off,” Wingo said. “I model my game after guys like Aaron Donald.”
Between the youth and high school level, Wingo has been causing havoc in opposing backfields for the last decade. And initially, he wasn’t even sure football would be his main sport.
“I wasn’t even that interested in it at the time, but once I got out there, my love for the sport grew,” Wingo said.
It didn’t take long for Wingo to realize he had a special talent on the field during his youth, as the game “always came easy” to the defensive lineman. By the time he reached De Smet Jesuit High School, Wingo was poised to make his name known.
In his first season at De Smet, Wingo played primarily freshman and JV ball, but did see some action for a Spartans’ varsity team that went just 1-9. However, Wingo would help turn the culture of the program around in his sophomore year, becoming a full-time varsity starter and helping De Smet improve tremendously to a 9-3 record.
“That was my first year starting on varsity and that was a fun season, just being able to turn the program around,” Wingo said. “We didn’t win state that year but we knew things were getting better, and we knew we were capable of winning state the next year.”
The 2019 season for Wingo and his Spartans teammates would certainly be a memorable one. For Wingo, he had a breakout season individually, racking up over 90 tackles and an impressive 15 sacks. As a result, the football standout was named the Class 6 defensive player of the year in the state.
“That was big because that was something I set out to accomplish that year,” Wingo said. “I also set out to break our sack record.”
Wingo indeed broke De Smet’s single-season sack record, while also being named conference player of the year. Meanwhile, the Spartans made a much-anticipated run to state, and after going just 1-9 two seasons prior, De Smet took home the Class 6 state championship trophy.
“It felt great,” Wingo said. “We knew we were a talented team, and the best part about it is that we all lost together. So we knew we all wanted to win together next year and we knew we were capable of winning state. It was the stuff off the field that clicked, we were just a very close team.”
After his junior season, college interest continued to pile in for Wingo. Many Division I, Power 5 schools were interested in Wingo’s services, and he was mutually intrigued by schools like Arkansas, Iowa State, Louisville, Purdue and West Virginia.
But soon, his home state school in the University of Missouri came calling. Years ago, Wingo was determined to leave the state for college, and had zero intentions of staying home.
“I was getting recruited by entirely different schools, they [Mizzou] weren’t even in the picture,” Wingo explained. “I was kind of surprised when they came around junior year. The plan wasn’t to stay home at all, I always wanted to get away from Missouri and go far away to play football.”
However, Mizzou made an offer, and after a visit to campus, Wingo was sold on becoming a Tiger.
“They offered me and I took a trip down there the next weekend,” Wingo said. “Everything was perfect, so I committed the next day after the visit.”
A big part of what led to Wingo choosing the Tigers is the relationship he has built with Mizzou head coach Eliah Drinkwitz, who is in just his second season at the helm of the program.
“It was the effort Coach Drink put in when I got down there,” Wingo mentioned. “He stayed back and talked to me extra when everybody left and stuff like that. He made me feel important and like he really needed me. He made it his priority to get me to commit that day.”
With his commitment locked up, Wingo looked forward to his final high school football season at De Smet. However, uncertainty on when and if the Spartans would get to play this fall arose throughout the late part of summer. Had the season been moved to spring, the star defensive end may have elected to sit out and prepare for college.
Luckily, the season was played this fall, and Wingo got to help the Spartans attempt to defend their state title, with the team making it all the way back to the Class 6 state championship game.
Although they would fall just short of a repeat, Wingo still displayed his tremendous talent again with 54 tackles — 15 of which were for loss — and another five sacks.
“The thing that made the season so difficult was that we didn’t have the chance to do the bonding we usually did and get in the weight room together,” the senior said. “We knew we were capable of winning state again. It didn’t go our way, but overall it was still a good season just getting to be able to play.”
A three-star prospect, top-10 player in Missouri and top-40 defensive end nationally, Wingo took home the Class 6 defensive player of the year once again, and was also named all-metro defensive player of the year by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
“I was very excited to be named Class 6 defensive player of the year again,” Wingo said. “Once I won it my junior year, I said you can’t go backward and got to get it again. I was even more excited to win metro player of the year. It was big for me to get that my senior season.”
While those accolades are special, they may not quite compare to the news Wingo received this month, as he learned he was the Gatorade Missouri Football Player of the Year.
“Not in a million years did I expect to get that,” Wingo said. “That was huge for my school and for me.”
Wingo has always been focused on life outside of football as well, and that is part of the reason he won the award. Boasting an impressive 3.89 GPA while also finding time to volunteer at a local preschool, Wingo has shown his special character, and hopes to continue doing so at Mizzou.
“Going to De Smet, the service work is something they’re really big on,” Wingo said. “I definitely plan on helping around the community at Mizzou, too. I’m not sure what kind of opportunities I’ll have up there, but I’ll definitely get involved with it.”
Already drawing comparisons to guys like Aaron Donald, it is no secret Wingo has the rare type of talent to perhaps play in the NFL someday, and the 18-year-old has been thinking about that possibility for quite some time.
“Making it to the NFL is my end goal,” Wingo said. “I want to be a first three-round draft pick. I just need a coach that can take my skills and develop them.”
For right now, that coach is Drinkwitz. An NFL future could be in the cards, but it won’t come without a special career at Mizzou. Wingo knows that, and is ready to make his name known in the SEC as soon as next fall.
“I want to win SEC defensive freshman of the year and eventually SEC defensive player of the year one day,” Wingo said.
