Yes, you can. Some of the chain stores will give you a hard time about it and refuse to remove the TPMS sensors, claiming it is a violation of Federal law to disable the TPMS system. You may need to go to an independent tire shop.
Since you brought up the subject, in my last conversation with the manager at my local Discount Tire/America's Tire while my tires were being rotated, I asked if I could have them remove my TPMS sensors and replace them with rubber valve stems. He said that it violates the law. I just googled it, and came up with these links that shed light on the situation:
http://www.tirebusiness.com/article/20111123/NEWS/311239995
http://www.tirereview.com/nhtsa-clarifies-make-inoperative-provisions-of-tpms-regs/
and this one which mentions a workaround (but doesn't necessarily endorse it):
http://www.tirereview.com/tpms-nhtsa-and-you/
Essentially, the workaround can be done two ways: (1) find a shop that will mount the tires on your new wheels without TPMS sensors, but not install them on your Xterra. You then take them home in the back of a buddy's pickup and install them on your Xterra yourself; or (2) have each wheel/tire assembly mounted one at a time, each time claiming it is the spare (which would not have a TPMS sensor), then take that assembly home and mount it on your Xterra yourself. In neither scenario does the tire shop do anything to disable your TPMS system, thus it is not in violation of the law. It seems like a lot of trouble - its probably easier to find a tire shop that couldn't care less about the rules.