Avari Johnson '24 Recruiting Profile

I believe that there are three personality traits that set me apart from my other athletes.

One, I am Hardworking, and strive to be the best I can be. When met with a challenge, or a goal, I put all my efforts into overcoming or achieving it. Last year I had two goals: getting an escape off the bottom and a State Medal. I stayed after practice every day and drilled bottom positions. After I started getting escapes in real matches, I started drilling moves I needed help with, and in turn, those moves lead to me placing sixth in my first competing year of wrestling in high school.

The second trait I believe I exemplify is Determination. All of freshmen year I was injured. I didn’t wrestle a single match, and people started telling me to just quit. However, I used their words as motivation to do better. After I recovered from my injuries, I took the entire summer to train. I ran, lifted weights, and drilled. Knowing what I wanted and setting goals helped me to stay focused and move past the negativity of others. 

And thirdly, I problem-solve. During Christmas break, my family and I spent our time traveling.  Being on the road did not stop me from staying focused on my goals. I spent about two hours outside every night doing a combination of stance in motion, running, jump roping, standups, and other moves. My parents would stop driving for the family to eat, but I put on my workout sweats and spent the time out in the snow and rain just so I could be ready to return to the mat. This problem-solving strength also extends to my matches. There is no giving up on the mat. Wrestling is like Kinetic chess. Even in a hard match, I am thinking of ways to solve my way out of a competitor's move.