Brett Johnson is now a two-time collegiate All-American wrestler, rare air for any athlete to come out of Jefferson County.

The senior at Washington State University, a 2010 Port Townsend High School grad, placed third in his weight class (165 pounds) at the 2015 National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) finals. Last year he placed sixth.

The WSU wrestling club he helped create earned the national Division II team title, with Johnson being the top placer and point-winner.

"I look back and I was just blessed to have the people in my life that I have right now," Johnson said in a phone call March 30 from Pullman, Washington. "All the people that have come through in my wrestling career and helped me achieve my goals, are just phenomenal. It's been an awesome ride."

Johnson, 23, has been wrestling most of his life. His father, Joey, spent 20 years as a teacher and wrestling coach at PTHS, where his older brothers, Jason and Keith, were top-flight wrestlers. Johnson placed third, twice, for PTHS at the state wrestling tourney.

He became a student at WSU and in 2012 helped to form a wrestling club; the official WSU wrestling program had been cancelled in 1986. Many colleges and universities have cut men's wrestling programs, for a variety of reasons. The NCWA was started to fill the gap, and serve what the entity says is the fastest growing male sport.

Basically, any school that does not have an NCAA wrestling program can be part of the NCWA; there are major four-year universities and two-year schools involved, including schools like Central Washington and other Pac-12 teams.

The NCWA hosts Division I (for programs directly sponsored by the university or college and with paid coaches) and Division II (non-sanctioned teams, with volunteer coaches) wrestlers at the same national tournament in Allen, Texas. The NCWA tourney has more teams attending than the NCAA wrestling tourney.

At WSU program's first year, Johnson qualified for nationals but there was no money for travel. Last season, fundraising was successful and Johnson competed in Texas, where his finish earned All-American status. This season, about $3,000 was raised in a week so 13 WSU wrestlers could compete at nationals.

Johnson's senior season started with a victory against a top-ranked junior college wrestler. "Everything fell into place. I was in good shape."

Then, trouble. Johnson is still hampered by a separated shoulder that occurred at practice in December of his senior season at PTHS. He re-separated the shoulder, had to take time off in December to heal, and tried to recover for a post-season run. He did not wrestle well at conference, where he lost in his weight class finals, and forfeited a match to decide true second place, so he technically finished third. Being a returning All-American, Johnson was seeded 14th in the 64-wrestler bracket at nationals.

AT NATIONALS

At the national tourney March 14-15 in Allen, Texas, Johnson won his opener by pinning over the seventh-place winner from last year. "I pinned him with a double leg move in the last seconds, then won my next match by decision, 3-2."

In the semi-finals, he was unable to finish a takedown inbounds to score the points that would have given him the late lead, and ended up trying a desperate point-scoring throw at the end that failed, and left him on the short end of an 8-4 score.

"It was a pretty devastating. My dad was there, which was amazing he got to fly down and watch me wrestle for the last time. He said the same thing when I was in high school" [and lost two state championship semi-finals, only to rally and win both 3rd-place matches]: "'You've got to come back,' and we did."

Next up was the same University of Alabama wrestler he had defeated in his opening match. Johnson was losing 6-3 in the third period "when I got him again, a double leg move" and won by pin. For the match to decide third and fourth, he faced Michael Whalen of Marion Military Academy, the wrestler he had edged by a 3-2 score. This time, Johnson dominated to win 12-2.

"I was in a very good state of mind. It was my last time on the mat and I knew it, and I wanted to go out with a bang."

Liberty University won the Division I team title with 194 points followed by Middle Tennessee and Rochester College. Washington State won the Division II title with 66.5 points, followed by Montana Western and Florida.

Johnson spreads the credit for his success broadly, from last year's head coach Chris Gambino to this year's head coach Kevin Poitra, to his family, his coaches and friends in Port Townsend, and his teammates and WSU wrestling supporters.

"My teammates were awesome. My coaches were phenomenal. Our team got significantly better, my practice partners were really helpful in my training. It's been a lot of hard work, with a lot of satisfaction."

LOOKING AHEAD

Johnson has been an important catalyst in resuscitating wrestling at WSU. He believes the club program has made great strides, and there is more support on campus. Now, he is helping to organize the program so it can be managed by a board, and use students in the WSU sports management program to earn credit hours by doing certain administrative tasks.

"We want to divide it up so wrestlers can wrestle and sports management students can get their experience," Johnson noted.

WSU sanctions wrestling as a recreation activity, and has allowed use of vehicles for travel and a facility for practice, but the team members are responsible for fundraising. Johnson hopes the program's success may lead WSU to again officially sanction wrestling, one of the least expensive sports a college can fund.

"That was the goal when I helped start the program. That was one of the biggest things, and there is a lot of recognition at the school. The students know we have a program, we're just not recognized or funded by the athletic department."

Although he has one year of collegiate eligibility remaining, Johnson graduates this spring with a bachelors degree in criminal justice and does not see himself taking on another season as a competitive wrestler. He has re-enlisted for another six-year hitch with the U.S. Army National Guard, and this summer prepares to go on active duty with his Army Aviation unit.

"There is a tournament this summer and I may wrestle, but I'm too beat up to do a full season anymore," he conceded. "I am hanging up my shoes."