All energy and effort

As a kid, Larry Johnson had a lot of energy that needed to get released.

Then he smashed his face off a wrestling mat a few times.

It didn’t hurt then.

And it doesn’t now.

Johnson, a three-time state 4A champion at Lakeland High wrestling this year at 145 pounds, started wrestling when he was 8 years old when his dad, Jim, signed him up for club wrestling in Lakeland.

“I wasn’t very good when I started,” Johnson said. “But there was a process when I went from third to second. When I started to win, I really started to like it. I could hit my face against the mat, and it didn’t hurt. I had a lot of energy as a kid and wouldn’t hurt myself, so I started to enjoy it.”

After three years in the club program, Johnson started to get the acknowledgment he wanted.

“When the season ended, they were handing out plaques and I received Most Improved Wrestler (as an 11-year old),” Johnson said. “That was probably the first time I remember winning anything like that and I was pretty proud of myself for that.”

That work wasn’t without its setbacks however.

“There was a time where he was hitting a wall where he was growing and in a tough weight class,” said Lakeland coach Rob Edelblute, who also worked with Johnson at the club level. “He was getting frustrated with my nephews (Alex, Sam, William and Brian) winning and he wasn’t. He was really kind of beating himself up that William and Sam had won a tournament and he was one match out of placing. He’d wonder why they always won, and he didn’t.”

Then, that changed as well.

“He’s just turned it on from there and never looked back,” Edelblute said. “He came back with a bad taste in his mouth and really put the time in. After school, before school, up lifting in the weight room. He’s been coming up and putting in the time.”

Johnson has posted a 149-10 record thus far in his high school career, which includes three state 4A titles and two regional titles. As a freshman, Johnson lost in the regional final, but went on to win the state title at 113 pounds.

“Regionals that year was definitely an eye opener,” Johnson said. “I really don’t think I would have won state had I not lost (at regionals). I was getting a little overconfident. After that, it really opened my eyes and made me focus a little bit more.”

It was that win at state as a freshman, as well as his Tri-State Invitational title as a senior, that Johnson counts as his biggest wins.

“My freshman year, we hadn’t had a state champion in five years,” Johnson said. “There was a lot of doubts, and I had them too, that I could do it. It was definitely a hump I had to overcome.”

Johnson started his high school career at 113 pounds as a freshman, moved up to 126 as a sophomore, 138 as a junior and 145 this year.

“My freshman year, I was cutting weight a lot,” Johnson said. “Part of the reason was because I didn’t want to get in any senior’s way, and they wanted me to do well. That was probably the most difficult year as far as cutting weight and kind of a struggle. I was still so little and a little immature. I was really determined, and you’ve really got to eat. After that year, it kind of got easier and easier.”

Johnson has remained close to the same weight for the past two years.

“I really haven’t had to cut any weight at all,” Johnson said. “I just think that a lot of people, they cut weight because they’re scared. They cut weight to get an advantage. But, like me, you don’t really care who you’re facing. Five or 10 pounds isn’t going to matter anyway. Instead of cutting weight, I got in the weight room after my freshman year.”

Doing that has resulted in Johnson now holding two weightlifting records in the power clean lift at the school.

“Like other sports, there’s a lot of challenges,” Johnson said. “There’s no other sport where you’re having to cut weight, I can tell you that. There’s different parts that make it a little more of a challenge than others, but wrestling is definitely doable.”

His first two years in high school, Johnson also competed in cross country.

“I was pretty fast and like to keep working on my stamina outside of wrestling season,” Johnson said. “And it was fun. I did it more for the fun aspect of it and something to keep myself in shape. I could have done other things to challenge myself, but it was a lot of fun.”

This season, Johnson missed the Hawks’ season-opening wrestling tournament at the Inland Empire Classic at Central Valley High Dec. 7-8.

Not due to injury, illness or anything wrestling related, but to take his ACT exam.

“I was thinking more of the big picture,” Johnson said. “I didn’t know we had a tournament that weekend when I signed up for it. But after talking to my coaches, I felt a college exam is a bigger deal than a tournament. I just decided to do it.”

When Johnson hit the mat for the first time as a senior, he won the Tri-State Invitational at North Idaho College, then captured the Sierra Nevada Classic in Reno. The state tournament is Feb. 23-24 at Holt Arena in Pocatello.

His success in those tournaments, as well as his teammates’ success, is one of the big reasons that Lakeland is in the hunt for the school’s first state title since the Hawks won back-to-back 3A titles in 1988 and ’89.

Lakeland finished third in the state 4A tournament at the Ford Idaho Center in 2017, second in 2016 and fourth in 2016.

“It’s had a little to do with our depth,” Johnson said. “My junior and senior year, I think the practices as time has gone on have been more intense. The team has gotten a lot closer and became a brotherhood. We’ve found a way to wrestle together as a group and we’re supporting each other.”

Johnson added that some of his influences are Lakeland High product and former Wyoming standout Brandon Richardson, as well as Zach Horsley, who is an assistant coach for the Hawks.

“Zach’s a little different because he’s been there and been like a mentor,” Johnson said. “Clint Leonard (another former Lakeland standout) is another one because he’s done some great things here.”

Johnson can become the school’s first four-time state individual champion.

“As coaches, we just tell him to go out and want him to do his best,” Rob Edelblute said. “We’ve always talked about working hard and the rest will fall into place. He’s always been a team player and cheers on his teammates. He’s a great team leader, and the kids respect him.”

Johnson added the influence of Edelblute has paid off as well.

“He’s really been pushing me on doing things during the offseason,” Johnson said. “He’s really been good and made sure whenever I’m done with the season, that I’m not fading away and that I’m on my toes at all time.”

Lakeland takes on 5A state favorite Post Falls on Wednesday at The Arena.

“It’s a good rivalry with them,” Johnson said of Post Falls. “I wrestled Braydon Huber countless times my freshman and sophomore year. We were bumping heads a lot, but it’s a good rivalry. It keeps us on our toes and it’s nice to have a team that keeps pushing you to get better. We’ve got those tournaments where the top two teams are Post Falls and Lakeland. We still haven’t found a way to beat them, but it’s definitely cool to have two teams close to each other doing those kind of things.”

And it could be a cool finish to Johnson’s career at Lakeland this year.

“We’ve hauled him all over the country the last 10 years, and watching him grow into the man he is right now is amazing,” Edelblute said. “It’s been really special to see him win those state titles and talking about having his name on the wall of fame. He set his mind to it at a young age. He stays late after practice every night working hard. He could coast and still be successful. A lot of guys respect him and it makes him special athletically.”