Written by Austin Marshall
Edmond’s Dixon brothers have arrived. In February of last year, the triplets—Lance, Joel, and Andrew—each won the state championship in their weight class and led Edmond North High School to a state title. The brothers made headlines this fall by committing to wrestle for Coach Mark Cody at the University of Oklahoma. After being aggressively recruited by several of the nation’s premier college wrestling programs, the brothers Dixon are poised to rise quickly in the world of collegiate wrestling.
Wrestling has always been a family affair for the Dixons. Whether it’s in-season training, wrestling camps in the summer, or the dozens of hours spent traveling to and from duels and tournaments, the family keeps a packed schedule. The three, like so many successful Edmond wrestlers, learned the sport as members of the Edmond Generals wrestling team. They were taking swimming classes when their mother, Linda, enrolled them in the program. Their talent was evident from a young age. After decorated amateur careers throughout middle and high school, the three are now poised to make names for themselves on the national stage as individuals and as a family.
The brothers realized that many top-tier programs—the University of Iowa, the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University, to name a few—may not be able to offer scholarships to all three. The “economics of a wrestling program,” as the brothers refer to it, could have made it impractical to offer each of the three a scholarship in the same year. Imagine the Dixon’s surprise when seven schools offered them full scholarships. “Then it just became a struggle to pick the best fit for all of us,” the brothers said. Each of the Dixons had his reasons for attending OU. Joel was impressed by the family atmosphere. Lance saw an opportunity for the Dixons to help build the program into a national powerhouse. “We could have gone to a top-notch wrestling school and been another cog in the wheel of success, or, we could help build a wrestling program in our home state. It was a no-brainer,” Lance said. Andrew, who aspires to be an orthopedic surgeon after his wrestling career is over, was drawn to the University’s medical school. “It means a great deal to us to be able to stay together,” the brothers agreed. “We wrestle better when we have each other’s support and encouragement. We make each other better.”
Their success is not the result of natural talent alone. To excel at a sport as physically demanding as wrestling in a state as competitive as Oklahoma requires years of hard work and dedication. In high school, the Dixons would practice after school, come home for dinner, and then go to The Edge Sports Training Facility where their personal trainer, Denny Bonewitz, would work with them until 9pm. After returning home and completing homework, the Dixons would wake up and repeat the cycle again.
The brothers will be anything but idle after their senior years of high school. They’ll report to OU on June 1st, where they will enroll in summer courses and begin training with the rest of the team. In July, the Dixons compete in Fargo, North Dakota, for the Freestyle National Championships. They are scheduled to compete in Junior World Nationals and will represent Oklahoma in Dual Nationals, as well.
Perhaps most importantly, the Dixons’ decision to attend OU together made their mother very happy. Linda Dixon was very impressed by Coach Cody’s emphasis on family and academics and was obviously pleased to have all three sons remain close to home. “I didn’t want to raise professional wrestlers,” Linda said, “I wanted to raise professionals.” By attending OU, her sons each get to pursue their wrestling careers while having access to a world-class university. If their past is any indication, the future is bright for these Edmond triplets.