After spending a few of his childhood years moving around in a Navy family, Mitch Sutterfield settled in Fairfax, Virginia.

A Northern District wrestling champion as a senior at Fairfax High School, he went on to wrestle for Dick Besnier and Ed Steers and earn his bachelor's and master's degrees in English at the College of William and Mary. Sutterfield taught English at Fairfax High School from 1977-2009 while completing his Ph.D. from George Washington University.

Sutterfield was also the head wrestling coach at Fairfax High School from 1984-2008 and built a program that, while not dominate or dynastic at the state level, was respected for full squads, tough lineups, many regular-season trophies, and steady success at the district and regional levels. Major accomplishments include four Potomac District championships, three Liberty District championships, three second-place finishes in the Northern Region, and a regional championship in 1996. Sutterfield had perhaps his strongest team in 1998, when six Fairfax wrestlers qualified for the state tournament and placed fourth overall with two state champions, John Eastman at 160 pounds and Justin Potter at 215 pounds. During his career, he coached 43 district champions to 70 titles and 10 regional champions to 15 titles. He also coached John Curtis, who was a two-time NCAA Division I All-American for George Mason University, finishing eighth in 1992 and seventh in 1993.

An enthusiastic promoter of big events that featured lots of wrestling, "Coach Sut" hosted everything from four-mat junior varsity tournaments, several Northern Regional tournaments, and the six-mat and 32-team Northern Region Classic, a popular early-season event in Virginia wrestling for 24 years. As secretary of the Northern Region Wrestling Coaches Association for almost 16 years, Sutterfield advocated for his fellow coaches and helped to organize the annual recognition of athletes. He was named Liberty District Coach of the Year in 1996 and Virginia High School League Coach of the Year in 2004.

Because he considers football to be an ideal outdoor recruiting ground for wrestling, “Coach Sut” has also spent 24 autumns coaching freshman football, achieving four undefeated seasons. Sutterfield was selected as both the Teacher of the Year at Fairfax High School and The Fairfax County Teacher of the Year in 2003. In retirement, he hasn’t strayed too far from coaching, remaining an assistant coach in football and wrestling.

Sutterfield's latest endeavor is public service. He won election to the Fairfax City School Board in 2010, and is on the ballet for reelection this spring. Since 1996, he has been the happy husband of Carolyn Sutterfield and step-father to Megan Anderson and former Fairfax High School wrestling manager Emily Melville.