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Trailblazer, history maker, state champ. That barely scratches the surface of what Troup High junior Evey Hill has accomplished. The wrestler made history for her school and the Troup County area at-large when she became the first female wrestler in Troup County to ever win a state championship.

On Feb. 15 at the GHSA Individual Wrestling State Championship in Macon, Hill beat Ivy Anderson of Mill’s Creek in the 120 lb division, capping off a sensational 32-0 season.

Hill had to dig deep in that final match. Down 5-4 with just over a minute on the clock and in the bottom position, it began to look grim for Hill.

“Well, I started to give up at one point. I was mentally broken,” she said. “I just knew I had to keep wrestling. I was so close to making history, I had to just push through just a little bit longer, just a little bit longer. So that is what I kept telling myself.”

“When I was down, I didn’t see anything, didn’t see the score, didn’t see the time. I was just wrestling,” she added.

Those intrusive negative thoughts would subside as Hill focused on an escape route. The junior slithered her way out, got on top of Anderson and grabbed her with a python grip that grew tighter and tighter as Anderson attempted to get out of it. With three seconds on the clock, the ref blew the whistle for a pin and the state championship was secured as a bewildered Hill stumbled around the mat, processing the magnitude of her achievement.

“I was shocked. All the adrenaline, all the emotions, all in one just coming in, my heart was racing. I was like, there’s no way this is happening,” Hill said. “The shock really didn’t wear off until the bus ride home.”

It was one of, if not THE hardest match of Hill’s career. Hill had a plan on how she was going to celebrate winning the state championship, but all that went out the window during the moment as she ran and jumped into coach Jonathan Scott’s arms.

“I was technically supposed to throw him, because that’s what one of our other state champions, our last one, Braydon Bowen, did to coach (Drew) Gardner, whenever he won, he threw him,” she said “So I told coach Scott that I was going to throw him and he was game, but I was just so hyped up on that adrenaline I couldn’t do it. I just jumped into his arms because I was so thankful for him.”

Joining coach Scott in Hill’s corner was a coach that has been a part of Hill’s entire wrestling journey from the start, even if she was not always a coach. Lilly Hill, Evey’s mother, joined the wrestling coaching staff this year and the two got to share a special moment between mother and daughter after the duo made some Troup County history.

“At first I was kind of like, oh goodness, I got my mom over here with me, now I have to see her every day, all day,” Hill said, laughing. “But she is always there to support me no matter what I’m doing. She’s always in my corner to cheer me on. She’s the best mom I can think of, having her as a coach is the best thing ever for me.”

The younger girls in the Troup wrestling program that extends to Long Cane Middle School and into the youth program now have an ideal to strive for. When Hill’s time at Troup High comes to an end, her state championship victory will serve as a marker for other girls to strive for.

“I love being a mentor, an inspiration,” Hill said. “These little girls are so special and I didn’t really have a girl to look up to when I was first starting wrestling, it was all guys.”

This is far from the last chapter in Hill’s wrestling book. The junior already has eyes on repeating next season and chasing a national title over the summer.

“Now that I’m on a state title, I’m looking for national titles and to just keep climbing up the ladder,” she said. 

Eventually, Hill will be chasing titles and medals in college.  No matter where wrestling ends up taking her and how far that journey is, her impact on wrestling at Troup High is indelible.