Douglas High’s five seniors pose for a photo alongside their families, during the Tiger wrestling program’s Senior Night celebration. Pictured from left to right are, Jacob Lewis, Donald Jackson, Caine Klein, Victor Valdez and Jaxon Nixon.
Photo by Ron Harpin.
Though Douglas has a few seniors injured, the Tigers were still able to honor their five seniors who will graduate this spring.
Wednesday evening, the Tigers were able to recognize those seniors during a triangular with Carson High and Damonte Ranch.
Three of those seniors were able to hit the mat as Jaxon Nixon, Caine Klein and Victor Valdez all scrapped for team points.
At 175 pounds, Nixon fell to Damonte’s Braelen Toles, who was second at Northern regionals last season at 170 pounds.
Carson’s JT Heaton was able to pin Nixon, during the final dual of the night.
Per TrackWrestling, Nixon has compiled a 28-14 record this season on the mat.
Klein and Valdez faced similar fates as both fell in both of their matches Wednesday evening.
Valdez, who will wrestle at 126 pounds for regionals, was tasked with wrestling at 132 pounds and giving up weight during the final dual’s of the season.
Overall, Valdez has a 21-17 record this season.
Klein fell twice by pin to move his record to 12-17 on the season.
“For them to step up after the amazing job they did last year. This year, they had to step up twice as hard,” said Douglas head coach Jake Fair. “We asked them to wrestle up tonight. Jaxon is an amazing kid. He works his butt off in the room.”
Senior Jacob Lewis, who has been injured for most of this season, is expected to wrestle at regionals at 120 pounds.
Dalton Nixon and Sage Adie were both able to go 2-0 Wednesday night.
The younger Nixon capped his sophomore regular season with two decision wins by finals of 8-5 and 6-3.
Adie didn’t need the full six minutes in either match, pinning his opponents in 0:48 and 3:02.
At heavyweight, Michael White received some praise from his head coach, coming back from illness to battle through two matches.
White went the distance in his first match, winning by a 9-7 decision after gaining control on a scramble in the second period.
“He didn’t travel with us to Fernley cause he was sick,” said Fair. “A really nice job by Michael White.”
Freshman Gunnar Bleeker added a 19-9 major decision win to his resume, which also caught the attention of his head coach.
“Gunnar Bleeker, wow. Amazing performance. Even in his first match, I know it was a loss for him, but he’s really progressed,” said Fair. “It’s really impressive to watch him work move after move after move.”
Ultimately, Douglas fell to Damonte Ranch, 47-18, before falling to Carson, 54-21.