Wrestling at 165 pounds, Thaxton won the bracket at the Georgia Open with four wins, including one pin and one major decision. He started with a 13-0 major decision over Montevallo's Luke Berguson before edging by Shorter's Jason Clark 1-0. In the semifinals, Thaxton pinned Noah Catala of Keiser in 6:34 before defeating Wylan Damon of 22nd-ranked Lander 7-5 in the championship bout.