Johnson falls short at Trials after disappointing season

The U.S. World and Olympic Team Trials are the crème de la crème wrestling events in the U.S. for senior level wrestlers. The nation's best freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestlers battle for two days every summer for the opportunity to represent the U.S. at the World Championships or Olympic Games. All-Americans and NCAA champions are a dime a dozen. For every Trials champion crowned, another eight to ten wrestlers leave with broken hearts.

R.C. Johnson (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)

In 2009, R.C. Johnson, a Minnesota native who attended Northern Michigan before eventually settling in Colorado, finally broke through to win the Trials and make his first U.S. World Team in Greco-Roman at 96 kg after nearly decade of dedicating his life to the sport. That was last season.

This season has been frustrating to say the least for the 27-year-old Johnson. After competing at the 2009 World Championships in September in Herning Denmark, where he lost in the opening round, Johnson took a couple weeks off, and then had surgery on his left shoulder to repair a torn labrum, bicep, and bicep tendons. Shortly after surgery, as soon as the doctor allowed, he had surgery on his right shoulder. The surgeries forced him to miss the entire season of competition.

It wasn't until three weeks before this year's U.S. World Team Trials that Johnson was cleared to get back on the mat.

With limited training, which mostly involved rehabbing and cutting weight, Johnson entered the U.S. World Team Trials June 11-12 at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. He cruised to the finals before losing to Justin Ruiz, a 2005 World bronze medalist who retired after falling short of making the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team. Ruiz sat out last season (when Johnson made the U.S. World Team), but made the decision to come out of retirement this season. Johnson is now winless in five attempts against Ruiz.

So what went though Johnson's head when he heard that Ruiz had come out of retirement?

"I thought nothing of it," said Johnson. "It doesn't bother me at all. The way I see it ... I'm the No. 1 guy. All year I was the No. 1 guy, wrestling or not wrestling. I don't care who comes back. I don't care if the past 10 Olympians come back. They've got to take my spot. He took it this year, so OK ... I had three weeks of training ... It happens. Next year it's mine."

R.C. Johnson (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)

It's hard to doubt someone who has risen from a nobody in the sport in the eyes of many to a U.S. World Team member. Johnson started wrestling in high school and never placed in the state tournament.

After graduating from Robinsdale Armstrong High School in 2000, Johnson was set to attend Augsburg College, where he planned to wrestle and play football. That summer, Johnson was encouraged by Minnesota's Greco-Roman coaches to wrestle at the Junior Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota.

Johnson, who had never competed in a national event, ended up placing eighth in Fargo and soon Northern Michigan's USOEC Greco-Roman program came calling. Johnson was offered a full-ride scholarship and spending money to attend Northern Michigan and join the USOEC Greco-Roman program.

"I got a call on Tuesday and I was there on Saturday," recalled Johnson. "I packed up all my stuff in three days. It's kind of funny ... I cancelled my Augsburg classes from Northern Michigan. Augsburg sent me a bill and I was like, 'Yeah, I'm not going there.'"

Minnesota native Gordy Morgan, a former Gopher and 1996 Olympian in Greco-Roman, served as the head coach of the USOEC Greco-Roman program in Northern Michigan when Johnson arrived on campus in the fall of 2000.

"It worked really well because Gordy Morgan has that Minnesota mentality," said Johnson. "It's just tough, hard-nosed wrestling. It was good for me. It fit my style. About a year and a half later, Ivan Ivanov came ... and he has that really technical style. That was kind of cool because I got the best of both worlds. From there on out, I really started picking up on the wrestling game."

Johnson steadily climbed the U.S. ladder in Greco-Roman. By 2005, he had established himself as one of the top five wrestlers in the country at 96 kg. He placed third at the Trials in 2006, 2007, and 2008 before eventually winning the Trials in 2009.

R.C. Johnson made the U.S. World Team in 2009 (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)

"It was an 'about time' type of thing," said Johnson of making his first U.S. World Team in 2009. "I had been knocking on the door for a while. I had a really good year of training. It was time. I didn't feel like it was a big shock or surprise to me or anything. It was just another tournament, I won it, and I'm moving on to the Worlds."

Even though Johnson was one and done at the 2009 World Championships, he is grateful for the experience.

"The experience was great," said Johnson. "It's one of those things that very few people get to experience. Obviously, I didn't wrestle very well because I didn't win. Wrestling is fickle like that. If you win, you wrestled well. If you didn't win, you didn't wrestle well."

Johnson graduated with a computer science degree from Northern Michigan in 2004. After graduation, he made the decision to move to Colorado to continue his education and pursue his wrestling goals while training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center.

"Honestly, I wanted to stay in Michigan," said Johnson. "I think the training was a better fit for me at the time. But there wasn't a Ph.D program or even a master's program for me to get into. So I said, 'OK, since I'm going to Colorado, I'll apply to schools in the area that have Ph.D programs' ... I got accepted, so I was in Colorado."

He has been there ever since. Johnson is currently working on his dissertation in computer science, which he says he hopes to have completed by next year.

"Wrestling really slows that down as far as the time I can actually spend on writing the paper and doing the research," said Johnson, who lists solving complex equations as one of his hobbies. "The professor I work with is really understanding and willing to work with me, so it's great."

He's not yet sure what career path he wants to take after he finishes his dissertation. He's thinking of possibly doing research or maybe even teaching. "It's open ended ... I'm young," said Johnson.

Justin Ruiz defeated R.C. Johnson to make the 2010 U.S. World Team (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)

As for his wrestling career, Johnson plans to compete through 2012. He says that he has no desire to wrestle after that. He has his sights set on making the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team. Chances are the road to the 2012 Olympic Games in London will run through five-time U.S. World Team member Justin Ruiz.

Ruiz knows that Johnson is very formidable opponent and someone he can never look past.

Said Ruiz of Johnson, "He's strong. He's athletic. He has a really good grip. He's good at hand fighting. He's pretty good at slowing people down and controlling some of those positions on the feet, which makes it harder for some people to score."

Johnson's focus, however, is not on Ruiz.

"I don't think it's necessarily about getting past Justin Ruiz or getting over the hump," said Johnson. "I've just got to win the tournament. Who knows ... He may get knocked off and then I've got to beat whoever else they put out in front of me. I don't see him as an obstacle at all for me."

This story also appears in the June 18 issue of The Guillotine. The Guillotine has been covering amateur wrestling in Minnesota since 1971. Its mission is to report and promote amateur wrestling at all levels -- from youth and high school wrestling to college and international level wrestling. Subscribe to The Guillotine.

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Johnson falls short at Trials after disappointing season

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