Weighing in at 220 lbs, senior Brexton Thomas is a multiple-time wrestling champion. He has been wrestling for six years and became interested when wanting to join a sport and the Gridley wrestling coach approached him in seventh grade.

Recently, Thomas and the team competed in the Flowing Wells Invitational and placed 1st in his weight class. Besides going on a mile run before each of his tournaments, he doesn’t like to prepare in any special way because he prefers to stay calm and collected.

Thomas believes he succeeds in his matches by being “more physically dominant” due to weight training and lots of practice. However, when he takes a loss, he “sucks it up and moves onto the next.” He laughed, “You can cry a bit if you want too.”

Some of Thomas’ biggest supporters are his coaches. “They act like a family, help me through everything, show love, and we’re super close,” he said.

In his freshman year, Thomas was a National Arizona Team Member. In his sophomore year, he was the Douglas Invitational runner-up and placed 5th in the state. His junior year, he was the William Bell champion and sectional runner up. Finally, his senior year, he was the Catalina Invitational champion and Flowing Wells champion.

Although he’s been in wrestling since his middle school days, Brexton doesn’t plan on continuing because he is joining the Air Force; but while he’s still here, he’ll keep taking W’s in wrestling.