Add another accomplishment to Jeremy Johson's already lengthy resume (click "resume" for more on his wrestling feats).
Johnson, a redshirt freshman, was named the Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year Tuesday, an honor that solidified what coach Joel Greenlee and the rest of the team already knew - he's a beast.
Johnson - who goes by Train among his coaches and teammates - completed a 32-14 season at the NCAA Championships after coming in third at the MAC Championships. He went 1-2 and didn't make it past the first day of the tournament, but he got a tough draw because he was in a pigtail match (sort of the wrestling equivalent of the "First Four" in basketball March Madness).
"That's a hell of an award, that's incredible," redshirt junior Nick Purdue said when told that Johnson won the award. "Guys who have won that in the past have been really really tough, and turned out to be All-Americans and national champions. So that puts him in an elite group, definitely."
Indeed. The last two Ohio wrestlers to qualify for the NCAA Championships in their freshman year were Germane Lindsey and Ohio legend Jake Percival, both of whom went on to become All-Americans.
Johnson won the starting job this season over the incumbent, redshirt junior Andy Hartshorn. Johnson placed in every tournament the Bobcats competed in, and at one point in the season was ranked 19th in the nation by Intermatwrestle.com.
If he keeps going on this pace, Johnson will have his name on the wrestling room wall as either a MAC champion or All-American by the time he leaves Athens.
