Boys wrestling: JCA’s Dillan Johnson named Wrestler of the Year

The list of accomplishments by Joliet Catholic Academy’s Dillan Johnson is staggering, and it keeps growing.

He can add a third Herald-News Wrestler of the Year accolade to that list, as he capped his high school career by winning his fourth individual state championship. He is one of a select few to have accomplished that feat, and it puts him in the discussion of the greatest wrestlers in Illinois history.

Johnson, who wrestles in the 285-pound weight class, but says he weighs about 270, went 41-1 this season, his only loss to Cole Mirasola of West Bend, Wisconsin, early in the season. Johnson later avenged that loss in the semifinals of the prestigious Cheesehead Invitational. Later in the tourney, he beat Koy Hopke of Amery, Wisconsin, who was ranked No. 1 in the country at the time by flowrestling.org. Those two wins put Johnson atop the flowrestling national rankings, where he finished the season.

It would seem that Johnson could pick whichever college he wanted to wrestle for, but things aren’t always as they seem.

Johnson was the Chicago Catholic League Green Defensive Player of the Year during the football season while leading the Hilltoppers to a Class 5A state runner-up finish. He verbally committed to Northwestern to play football, but following the hazing scandal at the school, he changed his mind and signed with Wisconsin. He still is undecided about whether he will play just football or try to do both sports.

“I am still deciding which one I am going to do or if I am going to try both,” Johnson said.

It would be hard to argue with either. Johnson currently has a brother, Eric, who is a defensive tackle for the Indianapolis Colts in the NFL, which is the position Dillan Johnson plays as well.

As far as wrestling, the last few weeks sum up Johnson’s dominance.

Since the beginning of the postseason – including individual regionals, sectionals and state finals as well as dual-team sectionals and state quarterfinals – Johnson wrestled 10 matches. He recorded a pin in the first period of all 10.

Although these numbers sound like they are made up, Johnson’s opponents and his coach can assure you that they are very real.

“Dillan just completed one of the most dominant careers in high school wrestling history,” JCA coach Ryan Cumbee said. “Not only in the state of Illinois, but in the country. He finished 143-1 with less than 10% of his matches going the full three periods. He avenged his only loss, and the same day, he defeated the world champion, Koy Hopke.

“Dillan finishes as the No. 1-ranked heavyweight in the country, and deservedly so.”

There is one win in the 143 that stands out most for Johnson.

“I would have to say that the win over Mirasola was the biggest, because it was kind of a revenge win,” he said. “Then to beat Hopke after that was great, too. It was good to beat both of them because there was no disputing the No. 1 national ranking after I beat both of them.

“The first time I wrestled Mirasola, I wasn’t in the best wrestling shape. We had played in the state football championship game about a week before. Football shape and wrestling shape are a lot different. In football, you go hard for about 10 seconds, and then you take a break in the huddle. In wrestling, you go all out for six minutes, sometimes with a guy that weighs 285 pounds on top of you. It’s a lot different than football.”

There weren’t many times that Johnson had someone on top of him, however. His style is to attack his opponent as soon as the opening whistle blows, and he is relentless in his pursuit. Once he gets his man to the mat, he isn’t the type of wrestler to let the opponent up and try for another takedown and go for the technical fall. He works and works the angles and leverages, using his strength and smarts to flip his opponent and pin him.

“That’s my style,” he said. “I just attack from the start, and once I get a man down, I don’t want to let him back up.”

Johnson has helped put the JCA program in the company of the state’s elite. In his final three seasons, the Hilltoppers won the Class 2A state championship, finished second in Class 2A and advanced to the quarterfinals in Class 3A, where they gave eventual champion Mt. Carmel their best match.

“The program was on the rise when I got here,” Johnson said. “[Three-time state champion] Dean Hamiti was still here, but we weren’t great at dual team stuff. Going to state in the dual team three years in a row has been great. I am proud to be a part of growing the program. We got a tough draw in the quarterfinals this year, but that was beyond our control.”

Johnson does not participate in a spring sport, but he will spend his spring training for his arrival at Wisconsin. Sporting a 3.93 grade-point average, he won’t have a problem academically in Madison, where he plans to study business.

“I’ll take a week or so off, and then get back to training,” Johnson said.

Cumbee praised Johnson’s work ethic as well as his presence in the program.

“More than his athletic accomplishments, Dillan epitomizes leadership,” Cumbee said. “His grades are amongst the best on the team, all while mentoring his teammates. He was always the first in the room, leading by example when not being too good to clean the mats before practice.

“We will miss not having Dillan in the room. However, we will be better for having him. He taught so many of us what it takes to be great at everything.”