JJ Dixon, fresh after chomping into a Krispy Kreme doughnut at a Lincoln High School wrestling team function, proposed a wager to his new coach, Willie Ross.

“Coach, if I don’t give up a point this season, you have to buy me a dozen of these doughnuts,” he said.

A dozen doughnuts in exchange for domination? It’s a bet both parties could get behind.

Dixon is 31-0 and can start thinking about his Krispy Kremes, having not relinquished point so far. The reigning 3A state 182-pound champion is seeking another title but in the 195-pound weight class this year.

“I told myself ‘I’m going out to dominate this year,’ ” Dixon said. “I just got to know that I’m training harder than the other guy. Just have some fun, go out there, wrestle my match and control the match.”

If he does, he would become the first individual back-to-back state champion at Lincoln since K.C. Walsh, who won the 215-pound title in 2000 and 2001.

Ross, who is in his first year as the Abes coach, saw Dixon last year and was impressed. He’s even more so this season.

“Last year, I watched him wrestle. And he was good last year. I mean, great last year – state champ,” said Ross, who wrestled with Walsh when they were both at Lincoln. “But this year, his drive is 10 times harder. He works harder than anyone I’ve watched wrestle. I’ve been to a lot of practices, rooms, and you watch him practice and it’s above everybody else.”

The senior has put the work in and it’s shown. He walloped Skyview’s Jackson McKinney, an Oregon State commit, 12-1 at the “Who’s No. 1” meet at Tahoma High School in November.

Ross, placed fifth in the 129-pound weight class his junior year at Lincoln in 1999. He wrestles Dixon in practice and is always astonished by his blend of athleticism and skill.

“When I wrestle JJ, it’s unreal. He’s so fast,” Ross said. “When I wrestled I was heavy on the head, I was a brute. I’d take your will from you. But when I wrestle JJ, man, I can’t even get to his head. He’s that quick. The kid is outrageously fast. And then when he gets on top of you it’s unreal. He just beats you. I’ve never felt someone as strong as he is in wrestling in a long time.”

Ross said he didn’t know he’d be coaching his alma mater until just before the start of the season.

He replaced popular Greg Ford Jr., who spent the past five years building the Abes into a state contender. He was fired last spring for providing rides for his wrestlers after practices, matches and tournaments, violating Tacoma School District policy. He garnered significant support amongst local families and led Lincoln to a seventh-place finish in the 3A state team title chase (Lincoln’s highest finish since 1997), but the termination wasn’t reversed.

“We’re going to heal as a team. It kind of sucked losing Coach Ford so sudden. We loved Coach Ford,” Dixon said. “But now Coach Ross is here, we love him, too, and we’re ready. He’s taken the program over and we’re good.”

Dixon helped ease the transition. He became like another coach, Ross said.

“For a first-year coach, there’s nothing more you can ask,” Ross said. “He runs practices. He helps me run practices. He keeps the kids motivated.”

For Ross, it still gives him chills when thinking about when he received the call offering him the head coaching position.

“When I got the call for here, it was like tears dropping, like, I really got this job at Lincoln,” Ross said. “I can’t talk about it enough how proud I am to be here.”

Dixon feels similarly. He transferred to the school after spending his first two years at Decatur.

His father, JJ Dixon Sr., attended Lincoln and his son takes pride in following his father’s footsteps.

“It felt like home when I got to Lincoln,” Dixon said. “It felt good to wrestle and carry my weight with Lincoln to the state title and win the title.”

“When I came over a lot of kids went elsewhere, but he chose to stay here,” Ross added. “For JJ, I think that’s awesome that he carries that. Lincoln is his home. This is his home. This is his story that he can write.”

That story, Dixon hopes, includes another state title and, perhaps, a box of doughnuts.