Daily Journal Boys’ Wrestler of the Year: Serra’s Preston Dixon

Wrestling was initially a way to keep the 5-10, 220-pound athlete in shape for football season and Dixon was tracking to becoming a major contributor for the Serra football team this past season. He was called up to the varsity late during 2022 campaign, put on the roster for the final regular season game and then was with the team as it advanced to the first of two straight CIF Open Division state championship games.

He was getting first-team reps at defensive end for the Padres in spring and summer workouts in 2023, coming off a solid season in his first year as a varsity wrestler.

But Dixon was at a crossroads. After having a heart-to-heart with his family, he decided to dive head first in being a wrestler only.

“I really loved playing football. I had been playing football for, like, 10 years,” Dixon said. “I really loved wrestling. My sophomore year was pretty rough. I was getting beat up a lot. But my coach said, ‘The better you get at wrestling, the more fun it is.’

“If I quit football, I had to go all-in on wrestling.”

Dixon had a lot of fun wrestling at 220 pounds this season. He had the 10th most wins in a single season in Serra history and tied the school record for pins in a season. He wrestled well in a number of high-profile tournaments, captured the West Catholic Athletic League 217-pound championship, won the Central Coast Section North regional and finished runner-up in the CCS Masters final. He capped his high school season by going 2-2 at the state meet and earned the San Mateo Daily Journal’s Boys’ Wrestler of the Year honor.

“We went to a tournament last offseason in Fresno,” said Serra head coach Mike Klobuchar. “He lost early, but he said, ‘Gosh, I have to work on this.’ That kind of changed his attitude.”

Dixon threw himself into his new sport, wrestling with a number of local clubs, including Peninsula Wrestling Club and Cardinal Wrestling Club based out of Stanford University.

Dixon even dragged a wrestling mat into a conference room of his dad’s plumbing business. Having only taken up wrestling his freshman year at Serra, he was trying to make up for lost time.

“He gets after it,” Klobuchar said. “Some of it is natural ability, but he drills, drills, drills. He puts in extra effort in the (wrestling) room and outside the room. … He works out before school, stays late in the wrestling room.”

Klobuchar saw the work Dixon was putting in and named him one of the team’s captains this season.

“He leads by example — first guy there, last guy to leave,” Klobuchar said. “He’s not a quiet guy, either. He’s in your face. He sets the team tempo and he has fun. He’s not super, ‘Hey! I’m super focused!’ He’s having fun the whole time.”

All that hard work paid off. During his sophomore season, Dixon went 15-10. This year, he was 31-8, with 21 pins, which tied the school single-season record. Last year, he had 16 takedowns. This year, he had 62.

He was second at the season-opening Peninsula Cup, hosted by Half Moon Bay. He won the consolation final at the Webber Lawson, hosted by Fremont-Sunnyvale and won the championship at the Bert Mar tournament, hosted by Christopher.

But his big breakthrough came at the prestigious Mid-Cals, hosted by CCS and state power Gilroy. Going up against some of the best the state had to offer, Dixon made the podium in fourth place.

The Mid-Cals are the last major tuneup before the postseason and that performance catapulted Dixon to a strong finish. First, he pinned all three of his opponents on his way to capturing the 217-pound title at the WCAL tournament. He ran his pin streak to six in a row after winning his first three matches at the CCS North Regional and won the bracket when Carlmont’s James Brendza had to bow out of the final after suffering an injury in the first round.

He followed that by pinning his first two opponents in the CCS Masters final, before dominating his opponent in the semifinals, winning by major decision, 12-0, to advance to the CCS championship match.

There he met Gilroy’s Jose Guerrero, who won by a controversial pin in the third round after it seemed the referee missed Dixon pinning Guerrero in the second round.

“Just talking about it stings, still,” Dixon said of the CCS disappointment. “When I quit football, I didn’t know where I would land. Maybe I can place (at CCS). Once the season started, I wanted to win CCS.

“[Losing in the championship match] was an unfortunate way to go. That fueled me to better at state.”

And in a case of instant karma, Dixon went 2-2 at the state meet to finish in the top-24. Guerrero? He went 0-2 at the state tournament.

While the high school wrestling season is over, the club wrestling season goes all through the summer and Dixon is in the middle of it all. He finished sixth at the USA Wrestling Junior California Folkstyle State Championships last month.

“I’m trying to get 100 matches in this summer,” Dixon said. “We’ve done 17 (so far).”

Given his dedication to the sport, 100 matches seems easily within reach and he’s already setting goals for his senior season.

“Last year, I kind of realized I had some potential with this,” Dixon said. “I like the independent part [of wrestling]. It’s all on you when you’re out there. I like that control because I feel like I can outwork a lot of people.

“I really love challenges. … I still have a lot of room to improve. Place at state next year is the goal.”