Kelly Walsh senior Mekhi Bovee to play football and wrestle for Morningside University

CASPER, Wyo. — The conference room was filled with people: Students, teachers, coaches, friends. And his mom — most importantly, his mom.

Mekhi Bovee, a Kelly Walsh High School senior and standout athlete, was in the center of the room as the center of attention. A coach from Morningside University, in Sioux City, Iowa, stood next to him. He had a pen in his hand and a smile on his face.

Bovee just signed his commitment to play football and wrestle for the Morningside Mustangs.

According to Max Preps, Bovee stands 6-foot-0 and weighs 195 pounds. For the Trojans football team, he’s a running back and an outside linebacker. His record speaks for itself — some wins, some losses — but his coaches agree: Bovee would be an asset anywhere he goes.

The same can be said for him as a wrestler. In his senior year, he has a 22–7 record, with 17 pins — not bad for a late bloomer. Bovee said that he only started wrestling in eighth grade, a far cry from some of his peers, many of whom seem to be wearing headgear and a singlet straight out of the womb. But it’s not just his mat skills, nor his skills on the gridiron, that make him such a hot commodity.

“Mekhi is a big leader,” said Travis Peak, the head wrestling coach for KW. “He’s a lead-by-example dude, and he’s a pretty big asset to our program, just because of his leadership. He’s like a coach’s dream.”

Coach Peak motioned to his own son, who was standing next to him.

“When this dude is Mekhi’s age, I hope that he has the same character and the same drive and the same discipline,” Peak said. “He’s just a nice person too, ya know? Everybody loves him. He’s someone that you want everyone to be. If I had a team full of Mekhis, my life would be a dream.”

The pride on the coach’s face was obvious. The smile gave it away. He looked over at Boveei — his student, his player, his wrestler — and gave the boy a nod. Whether it was a simple acknowledgement or the ultimate nod of approval is unknown, but it didn’t matter. Coach had done his job, and Bovee had done his.

“I think the biggest mark he leaves on the program, as he walks out, is that hopefully the other kids want to be like him,” Peak said. “He’s dedicated to his sport, and his teammates. He’s somebody to be like.”

In short, Bovee was everything that the coaches at Morningside University wanted.

Keegan Hessler, the head assistant coach at Morningside, said they approached Bovee not just because of his skills on the field and on the mat, but also because of what was inside.

“Obviously he’s talented in wrestling,” Hessler said. “Mekhi is ranked very highly in the state. I’ve known Coach Peak for probably 11 or 12 years now through the wrestling community, and I always try to reach out to the coaches first to see the quality of character for a wrestler, and he spoke extremely highly of Mekhi. So I reached out, and his wrestling ability speaks for itself, but he’s a great person as well. And that’s good because we look for guys that are going to add to our culture, not take away from it.”

Bovee will certainly add to the culture, if his coaches are to be believed. He knows what’s expected of him and he knows what kind of team he’s walking into, both on the field and on the mat.

“When coach reached out, he was just so friendly,” Bovee said in a press conference to announce his signing. “He told me, ‘When we love, we love hard,’ and he really showed that. After each tournament, he would text me, ‘Hey, good job wrestling.’ It was an easy decision, just because he showed how much he cared and how much he wanted me.”

Bovee signed a four-year commitment with the university and he knows how hard the work will be, but he’s no stranger to hard work. He’s worked hard throughout his entire high school athletic career. He worked hard for himself, for his team and for his number-one fan.

“My favorite memory is, honestly, running the ball and hearing my mom scream, ‘That’s my baby!'” Bovee said. “Her support is everything. It’s meant absolutely everything. I would not be here right now if it wasn’t for my mom. She’s my number-one supporter and she has been all of my life. She really made me the person I am today and I couldn’t be more thankful.”

She’s thankful for him, too. The pride in her eyes as she watched her boy sign his contract was infectious. All of her hard work and determination, her example, rubbed off on Bovee. He says that he’s the person that he is because of her, proving to her and the rest of the world one thing: She did a good job. She raised a good boy.

Now, Bovee is an example to other young boys. The room where he signed his contract was full of younger kids who looked up to him; some just a grade or two below him, others who barely came up to his knee. All of of them looked up to him.

So what advice would he have for them?

“That’s a hard one,” he said. “That’s a really hard one.” He took a moment to think, and then his eyes lit up.

“I think you have to focus on your mindset before you can do anything else,” he said. “Before you can do anything, anything you do, mindset is one of the most important things you can have in life. If you have the right mindset towards something — if you want to do something and you have the right mindset for it, you can do it. If you can get your mindset right, you can do everything, you know?”