Wrestling preview: Tahoma's family affair

MAPLE VALLEY — Tahoma High senior Michael Johnson loves the solitary aspect of wrestling, but he's never alone when he takes the mat. He's accompanied at all times by a nearly golf ball-sized lump on his skull that he was born with and that teammates jokingly refer to as "Critter."

"We have a theory that there was a twin he beat up before he was born," Tahoma coach Chris Feist said. "Like they decided, 'There's only room for one of us.' "

In reality, there is room for all in the wrestling Johnson family. Michael, the reigning 160-pound Class 4A state champion who now wrestles at 171, is joined in the Bears' program this season by brother Andrew, a sophomore expected to contend for a state medal. Their father, Todd, was hired as an assistant coach after spending five years as a volunteer with the middle-school program and two more with the high-school team.

Waiting in the wings is eighth-grader Jared, and the fan section for all three brothers includes mother Susan, who videotapes their matches.

Well, sometimes.

"She's getting sick of videotaping because she wants to watch the matches," Todd Johnson said. "A lot of times she passes the camera on to someone else."

The entire clan was on hand last week as the Bears kicked off the season with their Blue-Gold scrimmage. It was a chance for battle-tested and rookie wrestlers to compete in team singlets before a crowd in the school's gym.

But Michael Johnson's long climb to the top step of the podium at the Tacoma Dome — which he reached after a 4-1 win over South Kitsap's Brent Chiswell last February — began far from the bright lights.

The Johnson brothers got involved in baseball and soccer early on. But Todd Johnson said that one day while watching the three boys roughhouse in the backyard, he realized the sport for which they were best suited. Shortly thereafter, he signed them up to work out with the Maple Valley Wolfpack wrestling club.

Michael, then a fifth-grader, was not impressed.

"I told my dad the first day I was never coming back," Michael said. "He said, 'Just keep going. If you put enough time in you might decide to stick with it.' "

He was hardly a wrestling prodigy. While Andrew succeeded immediately, Michael lost every match he entered for a year and a half.

The turning point came when Michael attended a University of Iowa wrestling camp in Oregon before entering middle school. He returned with a new understanding of what it took to succeed in a physically and mentally challenging sport, along with a new work ethic.

As Michael began competing for Tahoma Middle School, all three brothers started training with the Eastside Wrestling Club in Newport, where their workouts jumped in effort and skill level.

That was enough to earn Michael several state titles in youth wrestling and a berth in the 145-pound state championship match as a sophomore. But he redoubled his efforts after suffering a bitter, 16-9 loss to Kenwood senior Brandon Hunter, his SPSL North rival, in that title match.

Michael still has a newspaper article and photo from that match taped to his bedroom wall and says it motivates him to this day.

"It's the last thing I see when I go to bed and the first thing I see when I wake up," he said. "A lot of people said that was good for a sophomore. But I was looking for a title."

After taking a few weeks off, Michael began working seven days a week, getting up at 6 a.m. for morning runs, practicing in the afternoon and then going to weight-room sessions or doing additional running. It all paid off with an unbeaten junior year, capped by the state-championship win.

"He's not flashy," said Feist, a three-time NCAA Division II All-American at Central Washington who took over as coach this fall after three years as a Tahoma assistant. "What you're gonna see is him taking advantage of every mistake a guy makes. Fundamentally, he's the best high-school wrestler I've seen."

As much as Johnson strives to succeed and leave his mark in one-on-one competition, he will likely never be alone.

"A big part of their strength is they train as a family," Feist said of Team Johnson. "This sport really brought the family together. And they're not just champs on the mat, but in every aspect of their lives."