School: Pennsbury
Wrestling
Favorite athlete: Arnold Schwarzenegger (bodybuilding days)
Favorite team: New England Patriots
Favorite memory competing in sports: “Sophomore year – I had to pin my opponent for my team to reach states. We went to states.”
Funniest moment competing in sports: “Watching my teammate Billy Farrell pin a 285-pound heavyweight in a spread eagle (he weighed about 190).”
Music on iPod: Led Zepplin, Metallica, Lil Wayne, Grateful Dead
Future plans: Sports medicine, personal training
Words to live by: “If you’re not first, you’re last…” Talladega Nights
One goal before turning 30: “To own my own fitness center”
One thing people don’t know about me: “I like to play electric guitar.”
By Alex Frazier
Matt Johnson’s back.
After leaving for a year to attend Valley Forge Military Academy, Matt Johnson returned to Pennsbury for his senior year.
And with the loss of Ed Shupe and Josh Dziewa, who transferred to Council Rock South, coach Joe Kiefer is very happy to have him back.
So are his teammates, apparently; they elected him captain of the team.
“It’s good to be captain,” he said. “I take it really seriously and try to work my team hard in the room. I like being captain. Sometimes it’s hard when people don’t care and you have to make them care or try to.”
“He pretty much leads by example,” said Kiefer. “He works pretty hard in the room and he’s very aggressive.”
To date, Johnson is 16-0 with 11 pins. For his career, he has over 100 wins, but not all of them are at Pennsbury.
“He’s definitely very strong on top,” said Kiefer. “With the inexperience of our team this year that’s (pinning) a very important ingredient.”
Johnson started wrestling for the Pennsbury Falcons Wrestling Club 12 years ago.
His cousin Rich Applegate was instrumental in getting him out. As was Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“I was kind of a nerd when I was younger,” he said. “I was skinny. I was into Arnold Schwarzenegger. I just wanted to get big and tough, so I guess I just started wrestling that way.”
Johnson turned out to be a good grappler. In his two years in middle school, he didn’t lose a match. He made varsity at the high school as a 160-pounder his freshman year, turning in an impressive 23-12 record and qualifying for districts.
As a sophomore he jumped to 189, where he finished 40-8 and once again qualified for districts.
In 11th grade, however, he transferred to Valley Forge.
“I wanted to see how the military was because I was thinking about joining the Marines and I wanted to see what it was like,” he said. “It was a good opportunity. I learned a lot from it.”
Once again he jumped a weight class to 215, where he went 39-5. He placed third at the private school state tournament and was one (stalling) point away from placing at the National Prep School Tournament.
In addition, he was an offensive tackle on the football team.
“It was fun, but it wasn’t going to get me as far as wrestling would,” said Johnson.
This year he decided to return to Pennsbury.
“I learned the military is not for me,” he said.
But he did take away some valuable life lessons from Valley Forge.
“It was a really good experience,” he said. “There were a lot of really good people there that helped me out. One guy helped me lose all my weight to get down to 171, and I got to playing the guitar.”
More importantly, “I got disciplined and focused and how to make the right choices. It made me more mature. I’m more independent. ”
Kiefer has noticed changes too in just one year.
“He’s a good kid,” said Kiefer. “He did mature while at Valley Forge.”
“I was kind of immature as a sophomore,” Johnson admitted, “more of a jokester.”
Johnson did not continue football at Pennsbury this fall because he wanted to focus on wrestling, which he plans to continue in college.
He is looking at Pittsburgh, Ryder, Drexel and Newberry (SC).
He carries a 3.1 GPA at Pennsbury and wants to major in some area of sports, like personal training, physical therapy or nutrition.
Johnson has never made it past districts in the post-season. With better training partners this year, he’s hoping to make it to regionals and even on to Hershey.
“I have a lot better competition,” he said. “At Valley Forge I didn’t have a good partner. Now I can wrestle with my coaches and they can beat my butt a little bit. It’s a good workout.”
