Michael Johnson Jr."When Michael was about two years old he was able to turn the TV on by himself," said Michael Johnson Sr. "He had the remote and he stopped on a Northwestern (Wildcat) wrestling meet. When his mom came into the room, he was holding the remote, watching the TV, and was kind of moving back and forth watching the match. Then right before Thanksgiving the whole extended family was in the kitchen except for Grandpa -- who was sleeping on a pillow on the floor -- and Michael. We heard Michael screaming out there with his grandpa so we all ran out there. He had a half nelson on his grandpa who was asleep and he was running in place trying to turn him over."
Already involved in competitive swimming, the kid from Downers Grove, Illinois started his wrestling career, but not without some conditions put in place by his mother, Jane, who made a deal with him in kindergarten. If Michael could get "all pluses" on his report card he could be involved in both sports. Michael took the deal and didn't look back. He has never fallen below the standard set by his mom and is now a straight-A student.
Success in the classroom didn't translate into immediate success on the mat.
"I liked it, but I wasn't good at it at all," said the younger Johnson. "I was frustrated when I was little and thought about quitting, but I stuck with it."
While it might not have come easy, a change in wrestling associations gave him the lift he needed.
"Michael was in four-year-old preschool and was wrestling kids that were in second and third grade," said his dad. "It was ugly, but he went to a wrestling camp and he had such a good time that we ended up changing clubs to accommodate his swimming and when we changed clubs we saw drastic improvements."
He was in an organization that took wrestling more seriously and allowed him to wrestle kids closer to his age with positive results.
"When he changed clubs, the wrestling was a lot more serious," said Michael Johnson Sr. "Almost all the kids were state placewinners or state qualifiers. They did freestyle and Greco and the expectations were different. He started beating kids he wouldn't even see because he wouldn't get deep enough into tournaments. Kids who would routinely tech and pin him now he was beating."
While the club and age group switch helped, the real reason behind Johnson Jr.'s success was something you can't get from any club or organization. It was his work ethic.
"There were guys on my team that were more talented than me," said Michael Johnson Jr. "They just got it faster. But I always wanted to learn more and I worked harder than most kids."
Israel MartinezMartinez has been coaching Johnson Jr. on and off almost Johnson Jr.'s whole career. The last six months Martinez has been Johnson Jr.'s main wrestling coach.
"He is a world-class Olympic-style weight lifter," said Martinez, who finished his high school wrestling career in Illinois with a record of 118-1, losing only one match due to an illegal slam. "He is unbelievably strong. If he doesn't make the Olympics one day as a wrestler, I truly believe he could make it as a weightlifter."
Michael Johnson Jr. is a three-time Illinois weightlifting champion and won a national title weightlifting, but wanting to be the best wrestler he could be, getting into the freestyle and Greco Roman styles was a given. It took some time, but Johnson Jr. soon was competing at a high level in all three styles.
"I read about Brandon, Florida and all the state champs, and Fargo champs, and that really motivated me to do freestyle and Greco," said Johnson Jr. "The first year I did it, I didn't really get it. It is a lot different than folkstyle with a lot faster pace. The third year I did it, I started to get it. It took me a while to get used to being able to lock your hands on top and rolling for points -- what in folkstyle is a bad position is scoring in freestyle and Greco was tough to do."
Soon his career started to take off. Twice he has won the USA Wrestling's Triple Crown (a national title in all three styles of wrestling) -- once at Novice and once at the Schoolboy levels.
It was a gradual progression, but Johnson Jr. and his dad both pointed to one tournament where he started to turn the corner.
"There was one tournament series when I started beating better kids," recalled Johnson Jr. "It was the Boarder Wars Nationals."
As he became more successful in wrestling, his swimming career had to be revised.
"A year or two ago, Michael realized he was a wrestler who love to swim, not a swimmer who loved to wrestle," said Michael's father.
With the schedule he held at the time and the modifications he had to make, many athletes would have dropped one sport or the other, but Johnson Jr. isn't built that way.
"Up until last summer when he broke his ankle, it wasn't hard to make the argument that he was a better swimmer than wrestler. When he was in fourth grade we had to switch swim teams because there was a swimming and wrestling conflict. He had to start his swimming workouts on his own. He would wake me up in the morning and we would go a swim workout at the YMCA."
While training before the Greco-Roman state championships, Johnson Jr. broke his foot. It caused him to keep swimming on the back burner and put competing at State in serious jeopardy.
"He did therapy every day," said Michael Johnson Sr. "He really wanted to make freestyle and Greco Nationals," said his father. "He really wanted to go bad and if there was a way we will go, but it really didn't look like he was going to be able to go. We ended up taping up his ankle and winning the Triple Crown at Schoolboy Nationals. He pretty much wrestled on one leg."
Before the tournament he would ice his ankle constantly and during the tournament he would get it taped up by a college trainer. In between matches he would go back to the hotel and soak it in ice water.
"Greco was easier than freestyle because people weren't attacking it," said Johnson Jr. "There was one kid that would stomp on it and stuff, but I just had to deal with it and just not let it phase me."
That kind of effort and determination doesn't come as a surprise to Martinez.
"He lifts weights four times a week," said Martinez. "He swims. He's just a worker. He goes to swimming, then he goes to wrestling, then he goes home and gets his work done. I don't know how many kids are that focused. To do all those things at a high level, it tells you about his work ethic."
On the mat, Johnson Jr. feels he is strongest while on his feet and in the top position.
"I do a sweep single on the feet and I do a really good wing and arm bar series."
"He moves great for a big guy," said Martinez. "He has great motion and great position. When he really grows into his body he is going to be a phenomenal athlete."
With such a commitment to athletics, the people around Johnson Jr. might worry about burnout. Johnson Jr. has never given anyone an indication that it will be a concern.
"He will walk out of a really intense wrestling practice, his shirt will be soaked, almost like he just got out of a pool," said his father. "He will walk out of the practice and he will have a big smile on his face. He really loves to wrestle."
With aspirations of wrestling at the international level as his career moves forward, his swimming, weightlifting, and wrestling schedules will have to continue to be full. The kind of drive Johnson Jr. has shown throughout his athletic career has not given any indication that he will have any issues balancing his ever-expanding world. Three styles of wrestling, swimming at a high level, and competitive weightlifting -- for Johnson Jr., it's just all in a day's work.
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