Gabe Stark
Reporter

Trenton’s Isaac Dixon punched his ticket to the Class 1 individual state tennis tournament with a second-place finish in singles play at the District 8 Individual Tennis Tournament.

Dixon opened the tournament with a first-round bye before defeating Kain of Maryville in the quarterfinals, 6-2, 6-0. He followed with a hard-fought semifinal win over Dorrell of Kirksville, taking the match 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 10-4.

In the championship match, Dixon battled Stagner of Benton through three close sets before falling 5-7, 7-5, 8-10. The runner-up finish was enough to qualify Dixon for the state tournament.

Trenton also had several other entries compete at districts.

In singles play, Breitenbucher lost to Parmenter of Lafayette in the second round, 4-6, 3-6.

In doubles action, C. Dixon and Fender fell to Jennings and Jones of Kirksville in the second round, 5-7, 7-6 (7-1), 7-10. Maloney and Csicsai lost to Guerrero and Blakely-Hitchcock of Benton in the first round, 1-6, 2-6.

Dixon’s state qualification adds another highlight to the Trenton boys tennis season and gives the Bulldogs representation at the state level following a strong district performance.