https://www.facebook.com/kenny.gendason/videos/10215903756852150/
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida Wrestling Team Arrives to District Wrestling Championships to a Standing Applause
Lost in all the sadness, chaos and tragedy of this weeks events in Parkland Florida is the fact that there are young people that still have to carry on with their lives.
Such is the case for the Stoneman Douglas High School wrestling team.
These particular children did not just endure a mass shooting in a place they should have felt safe.
They also lost a teacher, their athletic director and their wrestling coach. His name was Chris Hixon.
In addition to the trauma they have suffered, this weekend is also the district wrestling championships, part of the Florida High School state wrestling series.
In order to for a wrestler to advance to the State championships that wrestler must place in the the top 4 of their district, then in the top 4 of their region before being part of the 16 finalists at their weights for the state title.
Today, his wrestlers are going to compete on the same day that they attended their coaches funeral.
In a show of support, rival teams and wrestlers all stood waiting for the Stoneman Douglas team to arrive and offer them encouragement in the form of applause as they arrived at the gym.
Among recent athletic accomplishments the school has had under Hixon, the Eagles’ baseball team won a state and national championship in 2016.
Taravella athletic director Jason Stein said he feels for Hixon’s wife and special-needs son.
“It is devastating,” Stein said. “His son was with him everywhere. Chris epitomized what an athletic director was all about.”
Charles Reed, a sophomore who wrestles at Douglas, said it didn’t take long for Hixon to make an impression on people’s lives.
“I started wrestling this year. He really changed me,” Reed said. “I came in meek, not really confident, and he’s really made me a more confident, stronger person. Great man.”
Hixon was the Broward County Athletic Association’s Athletic Director of the Year last year.
According to a post on the Florida Wrestling Room Facebook page:
Standing ovation for MSD as they entered the district gym coming directly from their coach’s funeral. Douglas enters about the 1:05 mark
That’s not all.
Someone in our district got Dan Gable to do a brief video for Stoneman Douglas that we will be watching on a big screen.
And last but not least, Cael Sanderson will be doing a private conference call with the Douglas wrestling team before they compete.
DISTRICT 12 ALL CLASS
