Dajun Johnson traded Monarchs for Panthers as he looked for a new DI program to wrestle for
WHITEFISH BAY, Wis. (BVM) — For Dajun Johnson, all it took was just a little time on the mat and he was hooked.
“I began wrestling in the sixth grade and I instantly fell in love with it,” Johnson said. “I never expected myself to be this good at wrestling because I got to the game late.”
Even though he started late, it didn’t take him long to catch up. By eighth grade, he had already won a youth state title. Once in high school at Whitefish Bay, he continued to work hard and as a sophomore he placed third at the WIAA Individual Wrestling State Tournament in the 152-pound weight class.
After his sophomore season, he went undefeated as a junior and capped it off with a state championship in the 160-pound class.
“After I won the state championship my junior year, about an hour later I got contacted by the University of Indiana,” Johnson said. “They were the first school to contact me. I hadn’t even stepped on the podium yet.”
The attention only grew from there. In July 2019, he was named a Junior Double All-American, placing in both freestyle and Greco wrestling during the Junior National Championships in Fargo, N.D.
“That’s when I really started getting attention from colleges,” Johnson said. “The recruiting for me, it was new. I never had anyone in my family go through the recruiting process so it was a new adventure for my entire family.”
With aspirations of becoming a dentist, Johnson was looking for a university that would check all his boxes both academically and athletically.
“I really want to make a better life for myself outside of wrestling,” Johnson said.
It was that August prior to his senior year that he made the decision to commit to Old Dominion University. With his college already picked out, Johnson entered his senior season not just wanting to win another state championship, but to make history.
“For Whitefish Bay there had never been two kids that qualified for state in the same year, so that was my goal,” Johnson said. “I had a really good friend; his name was Connor Dyke. I was like, ‘Come on this year I’m going to push you, you’re going to push me and we’re going to make it to state.’ He made it to state and that was the biggest thing for me, bonding and making it so that me and someone else could achieve history.”
Not only did they make it to state, but Johnson had another undefeated season, this time winning the individual state championship in the 170-pound class.
It wasn’t until April 2 that things took a drastic turn when Old Dominion University announced it would be discontinuing its wrestling program to cut costs. The announcement came as many colleges on all levels began suspending or discontinuing programs for financial reasons.
The news was broken to Johnson’s father, Demitree, by a close family friend who told him about the ODU announcement. He then rushed to Johnson’s room, waking him up to tell him that they needed to find him a new place to go to school.
“It was rough,” Johnson said. “I felt a lot of pressure just because I did feel like it was very late.”
Johnson and his family spent the next month going through the recruiting process all over again as he tried to find a new college. He eventually narrowed it down to two schools — the University of Northern Iowa and the University of Wyoming.
According to Johnson, both schools did a great job of showing him the university as best they could without having an in-person visit. However, one of Johnson’s closest friends went to UNI and the added benefit of having a familiar face on campus helped in making his decision.
On April 29, Johnson announced via Twitter that he would be wrestling this fall at Northern Iowa. The addition of Johnson added another top-200 recruit to the Panthers’ already impressive recruiting class that was ranked in the top 20 of the nation.
“I’m super excited,” Johnson said. “I believe that at Northern Iowa we will have an amazing team.”
He will enter UNI ready to play his part in helping the Panthers carry the momentum they gained last year, finishing 13th at the NCAA Championships. He will also go to Cedar Falls, Iowa with some big goals.
“There is the goal to be a four-time undefeated champ,” Johnson said. “I feel like if you don’t have that goal then you’re not really motivated. I mean realistically will that happen, I can’t say. I want it to happen but being realistic there might be a couple losses or some stuff like that. But it’s nice to motivate myself that way.”
That is how Johnson has always been, not just as a wrestler, but as a person. Wrestling has just given him a way to motivate himself to be the best that he can be.
“I feel like it’s just making me a better man,” Johnson said.
