In his 10 seasons as the head coach of the UW-Stevens Point wrestling program, Johnny Johnson has established a very successful coaching resume.
Johnson enters his 11th season as the Pointers’ head coach and 15th year overall in the UW-Stevens Point program in 2008-2009. He has coached 37 wrestlers in the national meet, and boasts a 70-10 WIAC dual record.
Johnson guided six wrestlers to the national meet in 2007 where the Pointers finished 10th. UW-Stevens Point has finished in the top 11 in the national meet five of the last six years. The Pointers have also finished in the top three in the WIAC every season during Johnson’s tenure, including an undefeated season in WIAC dual meets in 2003-04.
Johnson has coached several successful individuals during his term, including All-Americans Craig Bollig and Eric Bath in 2007-08. Overall, Johnson has trained 19 All-Americans, including 16 in the last six years. He has taken wrestlers to the national meet in every one of his ten seasons.
Johnson has also trained three national champions. Yan White was a three-time national finalist who won the national title in 2002. Cody Koenig and Brad Marten claimed national titles in 2003, when the Pointers achieved a school record third place finish at the national meet.
Johnson also worked closely with 3-time Olympian and 1996 Silver Medalist Dennis Hall. Hall, a former UW-Stevens Point assistant coach, was joined in the corner by Johnson during the 2004 Olympic trials and on the trip to Athens, Greece.
Prior to becoming head coach, Johnson served as the Pointers’ top assistant and the state coach for the Wisconsin Wrestling Federation. Johnson’s strong technical background is the cornerstone to his coaching philosophy.
Before coming to UW-Stevens Point, Johnson served as an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota for eight seasons. There he was instrumental in developing 18 All-Americans, 10 Big Ten Champions, and a No. 1 dual team ranking in 1994.
Johnson has worked with some of the nation’s top coaches at every level, including Stan Abel at Oklahoma, J. Robinson at Minnesota, and Marty Loy at UW-Stevens Point.
Johnson wrestled collegiately at the University of Oklahoma, where he was a two-time Division I All-American for the Sooners while compiling a 112-22-2 record. After college, he gained considerable international experience as a member of three U.S. National teams and an alternate to the 1988 U.S. Olympic team.
Having completed his Bachelor’s degree in Journalism at Oklahoma and his Master’s in Education at UW-Stevens Point, Johnson teaches Adventure Education in the School of Health, Exercise Science and Athletics at UW-Stevens Point and coordinates Adventure Education minor, which he helped developed for the school of HESA.
A native of Midwest City, Okla., Johnny and his wife, Julie, have three children – son, Jesse, and daughters, Taylor and Gabrialla. They reside in Plover.
