Majory Stoneman Douglas Wrestling

[BuckLateral]

Stoneman Douglas wrestlers mourn their coach, then wrestle in his memory

http://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/22532373/marjory-stoneman-douglas-wrestlers-remember-chris-hixon-competing-memory

[Sommers]

Inspiring...

Stoneman Douglas was one of 17 people killed in the Ash Wednesday massacre at the Florida school just a week before. A Navy veteran of the Gulf War, he had died after racing in a golf cart toward the sound of gunfire, trying to protect the people he considered family.

It had been a stirring service for Hixon, a 49-year-old father of two sons and two adopted daughters, a loving husband to Debra, herself a school administrator. Gov. Rick Scott was at the church, as was Archbishop Thomas Wenski, who said Pope Francis had sent his condolences.

At one poignant moment in the service, the Rev. David Zarilli spoke directly to Corey, the Hixons' 18-year-old son with Down syndrome, and told him that the the pews were filled with people -- students, parents, teachers and coaches -- who were there for him. "We want you to know we are with you. You should be very proud of your dad. You were so lucky to have him. ... When his students were in trouble, he didn't run away. He wanted to protect those children. And he did."