How did it go?
»RELATED: Thursday’s high school roundup
“Not very well for me,” Johnson said, laughing. “He gave me a spadle (a pinning move to counter a single-leg takedown). It was fun to roll around with a guy like that. It’s awesome.”
Johnson takes that experience into the district tournament Friday and Saturday at Wilmington High School. He’s one of five Wildcats to qualify. The top four finishers in each weight class advance to next week’s state championships in Columbus.
Johnson has been there twice. He went 0-2 as a sophomore and 1-2 last year. This year’s goal is the podium and a top-eight finish.
“You hear about it but it’s nothing until you walk out of that tunnel and see all the people,” Johnson said of the atmosphere at Ohio State University’s Schottenstein Center. “All the noise. All the wrestling going on. It’s nerve-wracking but it’s awesome.
“It helps being there. Knowing the competition there and knowing you can hang with those guys.”
On Friday, Johnson (34-1) opens with Bethel-Tate sophomore Mikey Molloy (23-21). Teammates joining Johnson at district are sophomore Gage Anderson (106), junior Tyler Woods (126), junior Zach Osborne (152) and senior Jared Kremer (195).
Johnson started wrestling in the seventh grade after watching his brother, then a sophomore in high school. His brother told him to give it a shot.
“I said, ‘You know what? The heck with it, why not?’ I loved it ever since,” Johnson said. “I just love it being a one-on-one competition. If you accomplish something you accomplish it on your own. I kind of like that aspect of it.”
Also competing at the D-II district, Ross qualified 10 wrestlers, Monroe eight and Badin six.
The D-I district tournament takes place at Kettering Fairmont’s Trent Arena. Lakota East leads the way with 10 qualifiers. Fairfield (9), Lebanon (8), Edgewood (7), Middletown (4), Talawanda (4), Lakota West (2) and Hamilton (1) are also at Kettering.
In D-III, Madison has five wrestlers competing and Carlisle three at the district meet held at Troy’s Hobart Arena.
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