Little Bear Johnson

Senior, Little Bear Johnson has enjoyed success on the mat for the Horton Chargers all season but perhaps saved his best performance of the season for the recent 3-2-1A Regional tournament in Onaga this past weekend, as he captured the Regional title and punched his ticket to the state tournament.

Johnson took home early in the season second places finishes in the Rossville Invitational and Sabetha Tri-State Invitational, while also capturing third place finishes at the Atchison Flurry tournament and the St. Mary’s Invite.

Though his most impressive outing by far came at the Regionals were he went 4-0 on the day to be crowned the 220lb 3-2-1A Onaga Regional champion. Little Bear took down his opponent with an 8-4 decision in the opening round and then mastered his quarterfinal foe with a pin in the time of 4:31. In the semifinals it wasn’t easy but Johnson topped his opponent with a 4-2 decision, punching his ticket to the championship bout. In the championship bout it would prove to be the tightest match of the day for Little Bear as he earned the 6-5 decision win to win the 220lb weight class.

Johnson has worked himself to a 31-7 record on the season and bid back to the state tournament this year after making the state tournament last season. Last year, Johnson fell short, falling in his first two bouts at state and finishing off the year 23-12, but this year he looks to make some noise at the state tourney coming in primed and ready to dual on the mats.