Former Chippewa Hills standout a champion
Former Chippewa Hills standout Nolan Saxton wins national title
“I’m very happy, it’s the pinnacle of my wrestling career. I’m content.”
From state champion to national champion.
On Saturday afternoon former Chippewa Hills wrestling standout Nolan Saxton won the NAIA national title at 157 pounds at the NAIA National Championships hosted by Visit Wichita in Wichita, Kansas.
Saxton is senior member of the Reinhardt University wrestling team and became the first national champion in program history via the victory.
Saxton went 5-0 at the national championships and was the top-seeded wrestler at 157 despite missing a portion of the season with a fractured elbow. Saxton won the D3 MHSAA state title in 2017 at 135 pounds while wrestling at Chippewa Hills.
“I’m very happy, it’s the pinnacle of my wrestling career,” said Saxton, who also earned All-american honors at Reinhardt in 2020 via a third-place finish at nationals. “I’m content.”
He beat third-seeded Giovanni Bonilla of Grand View (Iowa) by a score of 15-4 in the 157-pound national final.
He scored four takedowns in the first period to claim an 8-3 lead and held on for the major decision.
Saxton also scored a 5-3 win over Wilder Wichman (Thomas More, Ky.) in the semifinals after scoring a pair of 5-3 decisions and a 6-4 sudden-victory victory to open the weekend.
For the season he finished 10-0.
Saxton was a four-time All-stater at Lakeview and Chippewa Hills High Schools. He finished seventh as a freshman and fifth as a sophomore and junior while at Lakeview. He then transferred to Chippewa Hills as a senior and went 58-0 en route to the D3 individual title.
Saxton wrestled one season at CMU before transferring to Life University and eventually to Reinhardt University.
He has one season of eligibility left collegiately, yet hasn’t made his mind up as to whether he will return for the 2021-2022 season.
Reinhardt finished with three All-americans and in sixth-place in the national team standings.
— Nolan Saxton