advertisement

Overtime worth it for Johnson, Naperville North

Wrestling fans could not have asked for a better finish and neither could Naperville North junior Walter Johnson.

Well, actually, the Huskies' 120-pounder might have preferred winning in regulation rather than needing overtime before eventually pulling out his draining 11-6 decision over Lincoln-Way Central's Colin Hobert that secured Naperville North's thrilling 38-33 win in New Lenox on Friday night.

With his team clinging to a 35-33 lead, the night's final match would decide the winner and Johnson (3-3) trailed Hobert 6-3 in the third period before tying the match at 6-6 with a takedown with 52 seconds left that sent the battle into overtime.

Late in the one-minute extra session Johnson shot for his Knights opponents' leg, managed a takedown and 3 additional back points at the buzzer to come away with an individual win that also allowed Naperville North to improve to 3-3 on the season in duals.

"At first I thought I was going to faint, to be honest," Johnson said about the critical, exhausting overtime match. "I felt really tired and light headed … I don't know, but oh yeah, it was worth it. Definitely it will be a better ride home."

The dual, which started at 126 pounds, went back and forth throughout before the dramatic finish. The 2-3 Knights recorded pins at 126 and 138 to take a quick 12-5 lead, but Naperville North rattled off three straights pins at 145, 152 and 160 to build a 23-12 lead that grew to 26-12 before the home team eventually closed the gap to 35-33 following a pin at 113 pounds. The Knights also picked up a pin from heavyweight Chris Pasowisty, but the Huskies' clutch pin at 106 from Evan Demari helped set the stage for Johnson's heroics.

"We've had two duals this year already that have come down to the last matches … if every high school match was like this wrestling would be sold out," Huskies coach Tom Champion said. "That's not our job, but that's why we're here, to enjoy the moments.

"I mean how many times is that kid going to be the last match in a dual that's basically tied, winner take all? Maybe never again. I was so happy for him."

Johnson said his coach asked him to avoid risky attacks in the overtime, but that didn't stop him for going for the win when he saw an opportunity.

"My coach said don't take a shot, but I decided to go for it," the junior said. "He seemed tired, his legs were hanging out and stuff so I went for it. Yeah, defense is what he wanted, but I sort of saw his legs were hanging out and took the shot. It was really cool and I'm proud."

Kyle Plank improved to 5-0 on the year with his pin at 152, and fellow Huskie Aarron Summers is 3-1 on the year after picking up his first pin of the year on Friday night.

Summers was glad to see Johnson help the team earn the victory.

"It was exciting," the Huskies' 145-pounder said. "Everyone did whatever they could to help the team out and then it came down to a kid who's not a senior - a junior who had to step up and he did a really good job with that. It came down to overtime which was really cool and he stepped up when he needed to. It feels good. The whole team did good."

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.