Wrestling: JCA’s Dillan Johnson named Co-Wrestler of the Year

JOLIET – A lot of 285-pound high school wrestling matches don’t move very quickly. The two wrestlers size each other up and push and shove until someone gets an advantage.

That’s not the case in a match featuring Joliet Catholic Academy’s Dillan Johnson.

Johnson, only a sophomore, is on a seek-and-destroy mission from the opening whistle, and it usually doesn’t take long. In fact, he set a state record for the fastest pin in a Class 2A 285-pound title match this season by pinning Fenwick’s Jimmy Liston in 1:30. Johnson pinned all four of his opponents at the state tournament and finished the individual season with a 34-0 record. That mark helped him earn the Herald-News Co-Wrestler of the Year honor alongside Lockport’s Brayden Thompson.

“I would say 90% of his wins were by pin this year,” JCA coach Ryan Cumbee said about Johnson. “Not only that, but he wasn’t taken down all year. He got so much better from last year that I couldn’t believe it.”

For Johnson, it was just standard operating procedure.

“That’s my go-to,” he said. “Once the whistle blows, I want to go get the other guy and keep my feet moving. In practice, I work on my moves with my partner. My favorite move is a quick drag to a single, but I will go with whatever move is there for me to take.”

Johnson’s ability keeps his coaches in shape as well.

“He’s the reason I still have to work out consistently,” Cumbee said. “We coaches have to go against him in practice sometimes to give him some competition.

“He flew under the radar a little bit in grade school. He was about 210 pounds, but he was only about 5-foot-6. He hit a growth spurt, found the gym, and he is just massive. And he is so strong.”

Johnson now says he is 6-foot-2, 270 pounds. That build, along with his quick feet, make him a valuable commodity in another sport.

“He is the No. 4-ranked defensive tackle in the country,” Cumbee said. “And, I believe he is the best in the country as a heavyweight wrestler. I am a little biased because I see things in him every day in practice that others don’t see.

“He also got three championship rings already this year. He won one in football, won one in individual wrestling and won one in team wrestling.”

Johnson said he is uncertain what direction he may take in college.

“I enjoy both sports,” he said. “They help with the other one. The balance from wrestling helps with football, and being able to get off my stance quick in football helps in wrestling. I just hope to keep doing both for now and see what happens.”

For the season, Johnson was hard-pressed to come up with a victory that stood out more than the others.

“It’s hard to say that this match was great or that one was,” he said. “I am always looking to improve, and each match was another stop to where I wanted to be.

“The team title was a bigger deal to me than the individual one, though. At individual state, it was just me out on the mat. A lot of guys were there cheering for me, but at team state, everyone was contributing to that title. That meant more to me because we had all put in the work together, and only we knew what we went through to get there.

“It’s hard to compare the wrestling team and football titles. The sports are so different, and the experience isn’t the same. We have won a lot of state football titles, but this year was the first JCA team wrestling title, so that was pretty special to be a part of that.”

One thing that neither Cumbee nor football coach Jake Jaworski have to worry about is pushing Johnson to give more effort.

“Dillan is the hardest runner in the room,” Cumbee said. “He doesn’t need to have the fame and success. He just wants to work more and keep improving. We needed the kids to buy in to what we wanted to do. They saw who bought in and they saw the success we had, and it was because of guys like Dillan who never keep working to improve.

“That is how you build a program and a culture, and I am excited to have him for another couple of years.”