PENNSBURY PROFILE:
Military school was a picnic for wrestler
Pennsbury senior Matt Johnson is back on the mat for the Falcons.
Pennsbury grappler says Valley Forge MA made him a bigger man
By Steve Sherman; Sports Editor
And while he didn’t comment on the first and last parts of that trio, Pennsbury senior Matt Johnson is more than eager to tell you that he didn’t find that military school fit the mold to which most of us believe--at least not when it came to dietary issues.
Boarding last year as a junior at Valley Forge Military Academy, Johnson says he was fed a lot of fatty foods that caused him to bulk up in weight.
“The quality of the food was unhealthy and fattening, which is the reason why I gained all the weight I gained,” said the Pennsbury senior.
While Johnson enjoyed the same type of success (38-5 last year) he enjoyed his sophomore season when he went 40-5 wrestling at 189 pounds for the Falcons, the 12th-grader says he just didn’t feel right.
“I was chubby,” Johnson said frankly. “I didn’t like it.”
“It wasn’t so much that my mat performance was bad, I was just so heavy that it would keep me out of shape.”
“I felt disgusting most of the time.”
So Matt and his parents made the decision to come back to Pennsbury. The hard part for Johnson was getting back to his fighting weight. Eating a high-protein, low carb diet that consisted of a lot of salads, Johnson has returned to his old form and is back wrestling at 171 pounds.
Earlier in the season against Abington, he gave the Falcons more than a fighter’s chance at beating the Ghosts with a second-period pin at 171 that put Pennsbury on top, 32-23, with two bouts to go.
While the Falcon faithful is glad to see Matt once again wearing the orange and black, Johnson is also among the group that’s glad he’s back.
“It feels great; I think I took a lot of things for granted,” said Matt only hours before taking the mat against Abington.
“Now that I’m back, I get to train a lot harder and eat a lot better foods; that makes me happy.”
Johnson says his strict diet and weight training began in April and lasted until August when he finally returned to his old form. Matt says it wasn’t easy.
“I had to stick to salads after awhile; most of their food was mostly fried and cooked in fatty oils and stuff."
Even so, during his stay at Valley Forge, Johnson medaled at the Pennsylvania Independent School Wrestling Tournament (PAISWT) earning a trip to the National Prep Tournament at Lehigh University. At prep nationals, Johnson came within a whisker of earning a trophy. Only a stalling call kept him from medaling in the tournament, he said.
Johnson arrived back on Hood Boulevard just in time to capture his 100th win in varsity wrestling. After his second period pin against Abington, Johnson has 22 wins and 120 over his four-year varsity career.
Still, the Pennsbury senior is not satisfied and says he won’t be until he at least doubles his win total this year.
“Nobody knew it was my 100th [win]; I just kept it to myself,” said Johnson. “My goal is to reach 135-140 wins.
“When I reach that goal, I’ll be really happy.”
More recently, Johnson went 5-0 at McDonough Duals held during the Christmas holidays in Maryland.
At McDonough, Johnson defeated a Kellum wrestler using a 5-0 decision and he also pinned a Loyola wrestler who was ranked fifth in the state.
“I was excited about wrestling him and I pinned him pretty quick.”
As of Jan. 27, Matt remained unbeaten on the season at 27-0.
In addition to Johnson, Pennsbury’s seniors include Pat Hyland (119), Matt Funk (125), Brian Kahil (130/135) and Mark Nicholson (145). The rest of the lineup is riddled with new grapplers.
Still, Johnson believes this team can go far.
“Our lineup is developing; we have a lot of new guys who are just learning how to score,” said Matt. “They’re not experienced but for not being experienced, we have a lot of talent and potential.”
“If our guys keep working hard, we’ll keep on winning."
Johnson is looking forward to leading the way. He is drawing Division I interest and hopes to end up at possibly Rider or the University of Pittsburgh. In the meantime, he’s priming for a big season after spending a year in the prep ranks.
“I trained really hard this year and I’m really focused so I think I’m going to get it done,” he said. “If we keep training hard, we’ll win our league and make it into districts and maybe states.”
Labels: Pennsbury, Pennsbury Wrestling, Profile, Wrestling
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