In the NFL, “cut-down day” has long been an established part of the league calendar.

Each August, each of the 32 NFL franchises are tasked with cutting its roster size from 90 to 53 players ahead of the season. More than 1,100 players — long shots, aging veterans and agonizingly close calls — lose their jobs on a day coaches, front office personnel and players have long referred to as the worst of the year.

This summer, college teams face something similar — albeit at a smaller scale.

By opting into the House v. NCAA settlement last year, FBS programs are now subject to a 105-player roster limit. Unlike previous rules allowing for only 85 full scholarships — on rosters that could swell to 120 — all 105 players can be put on full or partial scholarship.

The 105 is, however, a hard cap. Teams didn’t have to worry about meeting that number last summer due to protections afforded to players who might have lost a roster spot after the settlement went into effect.

This summer? There will almost assuredly be cuts as teams — New Mexico among them — work to meet that cap.

How, then, are the Lobos managing it?

UNM carried 101 players into spring practice, including seven designated student-athletes (DSAs). DSAs are players “whose roster spots would have been impacted by immediate implementation of the roster limits” last summer, per an NCAA governance update, and do not count towards the 105-player limit.

Likely starting defensive end Darren Agu and running back Cameron Mathews are among UNM’s seven DSAs. The Lobos are also bringing in 20 incoming freshmen, putting the Lobos at 121 rostered players on paper when they likely need to be at 112 by the first game.

In April, coach Jason Eck said UNM would use a two-pronged approach split across the spring and late summer to meet that number. That approach is already underway. Friday, Eck said he and his staff met with some players this week to let them know “where they stood” as that number looms.

“Some of them, we’re not going to be able to bring back,” he said. “Some of them, (it’s) kind of, ‘Hey, you’re back, but you’re still at risk. You’re one of the guys who’s kind of in a pool that needs to improve.’”

Depending on the timeline, players have some options. Those that won’t be coming back for training camp can go try and play at another non-NCAA program, like a junior college or an NAIA team. Those programs are not subject to the NCAA’s rules against “ghost transfers,” players who leave one NCAA program and enroll at another without formally entering the transfer portal.

For players coming back for training camp but might not make it to the season, Eck said he’s told some he would bring them back for spring practice if they stay enrolled at UNM.

“The guys who are leaving right now, if we can’t bring them back for camp (this summer), we’re trying to help those guys figure out what they want to do,” Eck said. “If they wanna stay here in school and try to get their degree from the University of New Mexico, if they wanna play — you know, one of the guys is a graduate, so he wants to move on as a grad transfer (and try) to find some place where he can play and go to grad school.

“Everyone’s a little different (with) different scenarios.”

But it might not be as simple as making it to 112, which might work to UNM’s advantage. Last year, Eck said players who suffered a season-ending injury before games started were not subject to the roster limit, which could give UNM some wiggle room beyond 112.

Regardless, Eck says he sees UNM coming to camp with “no more than” 115 on the roster.

“It is a little tricker that way,” he said. “But it’s also, you gotta play by the rules. If guys are frustrated, you just gotta tell them, ‘Hey, we gotta make tough decisions.’

“And these are tough decisions.”

Sean Reider covers college football and other sports for the Journal. You can reach him at sreider@abqjournal.com or via X at @lenaweereider.

Toni Toney knows her family role. It’s to have all the right answers. Maybe your mom had the same job with some of the same questions.

“Mom, why can’t I stay up later?”

“Mom, can I watch this show?”

“Mom, where should I go to school?”

Toney was no different with her five children, though the questions are different with Malachi, her fourth child and second boy — “the baby boy,” as mom says of the University of Miami star receiver. “That’s what I call him. My baby.”

It’s Mother’s Day, and you can go through the South Florida sports pages to find a mom’s impact on the bigger names from any age or angle. Tennis legend Chris Evert won everything in that sport, but didn’t hesitate when asked about her biggest accomplishment: “Being a mother.”

Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo was taken by his mother, Marilyn Blount, from the rough streets of New Jersey to the backwoods of North Carolina for a better life.

“I’m nowhere without my mother,” Adebayo said.

Coco Gauff’s mom, Candi, over saw her daughter’s homeschooling to help her tennis. Heat legend Dwyane Wade saying his energy came from his mother, Jolinda, a preacher. Jimmy Johnson realized the light went out on his coaching fire when he stood over his mother’s coffin and knew he wanted to spend more time with family.

Here’s the thing about most such sports names we meet: They’re finished products. Adults in careers. Stars, in most cases, if we get to know them. Malachi Toney is 18. He might be as big a name as there is in college football right now. But he’s just a college sophomore.

Yet there he was the other day, leading a clinic for a few hundred youth at the same Washington Park he played on just a few years ago. An 18 year old giving back? Advising a group of hopeful players, “It’s all about the work?”

Someone taught him right — or is teaching him, present tense, because he was just college football’s big freshman name. Toni, who raised him as a single mom, knew Malachi was different from the time Malachi stepped on a football field at age 7. Everyone did.

She didn’t even want him playing football then, because he was so small. But his local youth team needed a quarterback.

“I’ll play it,” Malachi said.

It needed a defensive back, too.

“I’ll play it,” he said.

Mom didn’t try to hold him back. When that park closed and she needed a new one for her two sons, she found Washington Park for them. Malachi wasn’t sure he wanted to play there, but she knew this was a good place. Wasn’t finding good answers her role?

“My philosophy to him was, to be blunt, ‘Go take someone’s spot,’” Toni said. “I said, ‘Outwork him.’ That’s what he did, too.”

That’s what he’s always done. He’s the first to show up early for Hurricanes practices — even after his stellar freshman season for the 6 a.m. practices this spring.

“Watching my mom get up early for work — if she can do it, why can’t I?” Malachi told reporters when asked.

That brought tears from mom, a postal worker who starts each day at 5 a.m. She didn’t know he thought anything of her early hours until that comment. But her navigating his football youth in big and small ways is part of their story.

They have a word for the map she’s drawn up: The Blueprint. “Follow the blueprint,” she’ll tell him.

She had her role in that. It included mom not just being the organizing mother for youth teams but getting involve in the park. She became an official, overseeing the park’s meetings and representing it before the city commission.

The Blueprint included picking the right high school. She learned from the process of Malachi’s older brother, Monroe, who just joined the Hurricanes this winter as a defensive back.

“Monroe wanted to go to the high school of a coach he knew,” Toni said. “I let him play there. Then, the coach left and it wasn’t the same.”

Two years later, when Malachi was ready for high school, mom researched private schools, academics, coaches and football programs. Malachi attended Plantation American Heritage. But that wasn’t the only football conversation they had. He’d been a quarterback all his youth but now decided to play receiver.

“OK, let’s talk about it,” she said.

It came down to size. How tall did he need to be? Who was the tallest NFL quarterback? Malachi, now 5 foot 11, wasn’t the prototype quarterback but fit at receiver. His mother ran track in high school, but Malachi’s speed and athleticism came from his father, Antonio Brown, a receiver and return specialist who played in the Canadian Football League and three years in the NFL (the other Antonio Brown from Miami played for 12 NFL seasons with Pittsburgh, New England and Tampa Bay.)

Next came the decision to leave high school a year early, at 17.

“It just made sense to us,” mom said.

They discussed three ideas about college: Opportunity to play, exposure of his name and development. Miami checked all boxes. She gave him the same advice in sending him to college that she did at Washington Park: "Go take someone’s job."

“I went to every practice that first (training camp),” she said. “Why? Because I needed to see what he’s doing with my own eyes. I don’t need to hear what anyone said. I needed to see because that’s my son and so I’ll go every day.

“I was in my car on my way to the last fall practice, and he texted me. ‘Congratulations, you have earned a starting position as slot receiver at the University of Miami.’ That was my last practice. I cried. I told him, ‘Congratulations, you keep your head down and keep the same work ethic.’ ”

They’ve kept the same mindset, too, in the NIL era. Toney’s agent, Justin Giangrande, helped organize the Washington Park clinic. They also had a turkey giveaway last Thanksgiving at the park.

“It takes a community,” Toni said. “And this park is part of our community.”

He’s 18. Just 18. The best part of that is the good story mom helped script is just starting.

____

JACKSONVILLE — Two elite triple jumpers, two Ocoee High standouts, two young distance prodigies, a pole vault winner with gymnastic experience, and a sprinter who set a national record before she hit high school — all among the best in Central Florida history — scored state titles to highlight Orlando area accomplishments on the final three days of the FHSAA state track and field  finals at the University of North Florida.

Kissimmee Gateway junior Maxwell Garcon became the sixth Orlando area boy to leap 50 feet in the triple jump in Friday’s Class 3A meet. He jumped from second to first place by bouncing out to 50 feet and three quarters of an inch on his fourth and final attempt.

That came a day after Montverde Academy junior Samuel Johnson, already in the exclusive 50 foot club, jumped 50-4¼ to take the 2A championship. Johnson, who leaped 50-9¾  to win at the Florida Relays, also won the long jump for the Eagles.

The all-time triple jump record-holder is Seminole High graduate Andre Scott, who set a national record (since broken) of 53-7½ as a 2003 senior in Orlando’s discontinued Golden South Classic postseason meet. Scott’s FHSAA meet record of 52-5½ still stands. He became an Auburn All-American and has been a college assistant coach for more than 20 years — now at Ole Miss.

Here’s the all-time triple jump list:

53-7 Andre Scott, Seminole, 1993.

51-6 James Beckford, Boone, 1993.

51-2 Armani Wallace, Colonial, 2025.

50-9¾ Shane Lewis, Deltona, 2010.

50-9½ Samuel Johnson, Montverde, 2026.

50-3¾ Maxwell Garcon, Gateway, 2026.

Ocoee senior Jaiden Manning, who  gave up football after going out for track as a sophomore, won Saturday’s 4A boys 110-meter hurdles in 13.92 seconds. He’s now confident he will earn a college scholarship to race.

His senior teammate, Devin Matthews, an oh-so-close state runner-up in the 800 last year, erased that disappointment with a 47.24 victory in the boys 400. He is also getting college attention.

“I felt really relaxed and for the last 200 I just left it all on the track,” Matthews said. “This means a lot because I felt short last season.”

On the girls side, Lake Minneola sophomore Vanessa Waite had to settle for second in the 100-meter dash with an 11.57 time, but then sped to a 4A victory in the 200 with 23.17 performance. That’s Florida’s fastest this year and the No. 9 time in the nation. Waite set a 15-16 national age group record with a 23.26 time to win at the 2024 AAU Jr. Olympics and was happy to finally eclipse that time.

“I was a little down about not winning the 100, but I know I’m better in the 200,” Waite said. “That’s my race. I’m very confident in myself now.”

Coaching changes, and 8th-grader Vanessa Waite sets U.S. 200 record | Varsity Weekly

Bishop Moore freshman Annabella Tomasic ran a career best 4:53.25 to win the 1,600 title in 3A. That’s her third state title — along with her November cross country win and the cross country championship she claimed as a seventh grader running for Lake Highland Prep. Tomasic was Friday’s runner-up in the 3,200 at 10:44.47.

Montverde Academy senior Nakira Hudson won the 2A girls 400 (53.24), finished fourth in the 200, and ran on the winning 4×400 relay as the Eagles tied Bolles of Jacksonville for the team title. Both scored 84 points. Montverde senior Jizelle Holland piled up points with runner-up finishes in both hurdles finals, a sixth in the triple jump and a leg on the winning relay.

Lake Nona Arrabella Duffel, a tiny sophomore (5-feet-tall) who was a highly-ranked age group tennis player before switching to distance running, won the 3,200 with a strategic 10:29.10 effort.  Finishing 15th out of 16 in the 2025 state meet was her motivation.

“I’ve been wanting this for so long,” said Duffel. “It’s like tennis in a way because every single lap is like a different (tennis) set.”

Rain fell for much of Saturday’s 4A meet, and competition was stopped for just over an hour in the afternoon. UNF’s rubberized track held up well for fast race events, but wet conditions were a challenge in the pole vault for Lyman junior Nora Garraughty. That didn’t stop her from winning with an 11-feet, 9¾-inches clearance. She has vaulted 12-3½ in drier conditions and wants to climb past the 13-foot mark with continued training with Bill Cashman, whose Thin Air Vault Club has produced nearly 60 state champions in four decades.

“I thought it was fun vaulting in the rain. But the hard part was gripping the pole,” Garraughty said with a smile. “I wanted to jump higher, but I still have summer meets.”

CHECK HERE FOR ALL STATE MEET RESULTS, MAY 6-9, 2026

Class 4A girls

Spruce Creek’s Mikayla Palmer and Boone senior Naima Durandisse both cleared 5-7¾ in the girls high jump. Palmer won the state title because she had no misses until the bar was moved up to 5-9¾. Durandisse, who signed with Santa Fe College for basketball but hopes to get a ride to USF as a versatile jumper, had one earlier miss.

Cypress Creek senior Alondra Rodriguez, who won the girls 400 hurdles last season, finished fourth Saturday with a 1:00.28 time that was not what she wanted. Nia Armstrong of Sickles (Tampa), a sophomore, won with a 58.88 time that ranks No. 2 nationally.

Wekiva was third in the girls 4×100 (46.58).

Kissimmee Osceola’s Nicole Oliveira finished third in the girls long jump (18-5¼).

Ocoee’s Jayla Newton was third in the javelin (124-3).

Lake Brantley senior Layla Fuller finished fourth at 2:10.96 in a fast 800.

Boone’s girls were 12th with 19 points, followed by Lake Minneola (18), Osceola(17) and Seminole (17).

Class 4A boys

Oviedo senior Aiden Aysun was runner-up in the 1,600 with a school record time of 4:11.71.

Taylor Royster, another Oviedo senior, long jumped 23-11¾ to break his own school record and place second.

St. Cloud’s Denzel Hawkins was third in the 400 hurdles (54.42) and fourth in the 110s (14.32).

Lake Minneola had two boys runners-up: Wesley Morisseau in the high jump (6-5½) and Tyler Mullings in the discus (160-3).

Ocoee was fourth with 31 points in a meet won by Flanagan (77.5).

Class 3A

Bishop Moore’s girls ran an area-best 9:16.05 for second place in the 4×800 relay. The Hornets totaled 26 points, good for seventh in the team standings. Dillard of Fort Lauderdale topped Niceville 69-64 to take the title.

Innovation’s Mariah Turner long jumped 18-7¼ for fifth.

Elijah Cantero of Bishop Moore was the boys 400 runner-up (47.57) and ran on a 4×100 relay that placed second with a 41.23 time. Jones was fifth at 41.53.

The Hornets and Gateway tied for 11th in the boys team standings with 16 points each. Niceville won the title with 88 points.

Gateway’s Ethan Antle cleared 14-3¼ for fifth in the pole vault.

Class 2A

Montverde’s girls were led by senior Jizelle Holland, who scored in all four of her events. She was runner-up in the 100- and 400-meter hurdles with times of 14.30 and 59.84 seconds, sixth in triple jump, and ran on the winning 4×400 foursome (3:44.69).

Also for the Eagles, Angelica Wolfe was second in the 800 (2:11.70); DaQuana Howell was runner-up in the 200 (24.25) and fifth in the 100 (11.97); Adriana Rodriguez was third in the 400 (53.88) and fifth in the 200 (24.55).

Lake Highland Prep’s Saleigh Simpson placed fourth with a 40-2¾ shot put.

Montverde senior Grant Williams cleared 14-feet, 9-inches to win the boys pole vault. His ninth grade teammate, Max Georgiev, placed fourth at 14-3¼.

Windermere Prep’s Akai Tonge placed third in the boys 110 hurdles (14.55).

Lake Highland Prep’s Connor Allen ran 47.59 for third in the 400.

Geneva football’s Duke Carpenter wins state discus championship | Varsity Report

May 9—ROCHESTER — Noah Ryder was looking for something bigger, with more choices.

So, following his freshman year, he left Schaeffer Academy for Rochester Mayo, a school whose population is about 20 times bigger than Schaeffer's and its enrollment of 78 students in grades 9-12.

"Schaeffer just got to be too small," Ryder said. "And I liked the harder, challenging classes at Mayo."

He's also liked the tennis at Mayo, which happens to boast one of the top programs annually in the state. Schaeffer was not only losing a valuable member of its student body when he left, but its best tennis player.

Now he is at Mayo, where he holds the distinction of being its No. 1 singles player. The tennis isn't why the 5-foot-5 Ryder came over, but it's been a nice element. Ryder has fit in seamlessly with the Spartans team. He's done that after having to sit out of varsity competition last year as a transfer student, though he practiced with the team.

"Yeah, I wouldn't say the tennis was an overriding factor (to shifting to Mayo)," said Ryder, who manages to make up for his lack of size with a big game and plenty of quickness. "But it was a nice perk. I like this team a lot. We have a good community and everybody knows everybody."

If Ryder seems a familiar Mayo tennis name it's because it is. His older sister Keely starred for the Mayo girls team until graduating last spring. She helped the Spartans win three straight team state titles and also brought home a championship last year, teaming with Malea Diehn to win the Class 2A doubles state championship.

Their mother, Mabel Ryder, says the two are very different in their approach. One is excitable — Noah — the other even-keeled — Keely.

Keely is currently at elite academic institution Dartmouth, where she plays club tennis.

"Noah has a lot of emotion, on and off he court," Mabel said. "And I think that is part of what makes him good, that drive. Noah is very ad-lib and loose and likes to push boundaries. As they are getting older, that complement and that balance is coming forward. So they get along. And they are enjoying each other and their personalities a lot more these days."

Mayo coach Jeff Demaray is certainly enjoying the presence of Noah on his team.

"You know, he's a heck of a tennis player," said Demaray, who is particularly impressed with a backhand that Ryder can rip. "And I think he's only going to get better because he really enjoys the game of tennis. He takes a lot of lessons and plays in a lot of USTA tournaments. And one thing I really like about him is he shows positive energy when he's playing his matches. That's something we really focus on."

Ryder, who used to also play soccer, has abandoned that for a tennis-only sports existence (he also gets in some pickleball with friends). He plays tennis nearly 365 days a year.

Ryder, a left-hander whose best stroke is his two-handed backhand, resonated well with tennis. He likes that his success or lack of it — as long as he's playing singles — rests with himself.

"I kind of like that it's all on you," said Ryder, who along with his Mayo teammates, will begin play in the Section 1, Class 2A team tournament on Monday. "I kind of like it just being me on the court."

And Ryder isn't bothered or held back by his lack of size. At least not much. He sure doesn't use it as an excuse.

"I would say I would like to be taller, but it helps me to be faster," said Ryder, who's dropped just three matches this season. "There are pros and cons of being short but I think it doesn't hold me back much."

Ryder is loving his tennis existence. Especially some days.

"I just enjoy playing it, especially the good days," he said. "I like how mentally challenging it can be."

Toni Toney knows her family role. It’s to have all the right answers. Maybe your mom had the same job with some of the same questions.

“Mom, why can’t I stay up later?”

“Mom, can I watch this show?”

“Mom, where should I go to school?”

Toney was no different with her five children, though the questions are different with Malachi, her fourth child and second boy — “the baby boy,” as mom says of the University of Miami star receiver. “That’s what I call him. My baby.”

It’s Mother’s Day, and you can go through the South Florida sports pages to find a mom’s impact on the bigger names from any age or angle. Tennis legend Chris Evert won everything in that sport, but didn’t hesitate when asked about her biggest accomplishment: “Being a mother.”

Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo was taken by his mother, Marilyn Blount, from the rough streets of New Jersey to the backwoods of North Carolina for a better life.

“I’m nowhere without my mother,” Adebayo said.

Coco Gauff’s mom, Candi, over saw her daughter’s homeschooling to help her tennis. Heat legend Dwyane Wade saying his energy came from his mother, Jolinda, a preacher. Jimmy Johnson realizing the light went out on his coaching fire when he stood over his mother’s coffin and knew he wanted to spend more time with family?

Here’s the thing about most such sports names we meet: They’re finished products. Adults in careers. Stars, in most cases, if we get to know them. Malachi Toney is 18. He might be as big a name as there is in college football right now. But he’s just a college sophomore.

Yet there he was the other day, leading a clinic for a few hundred youth at the same Washington Park he played on just a few years ago. An 18 year old giving back? Advising a group of hopeful players, “It’s all about the work?”

Someone taught him right — or is teaching him, present tense, because he was just college football’s big freshman name. Toni, who raised him as a single mom, knew Malachi was different from the time Malachi stepped on a football field at age 7. Everyone did.

She didn’t even want him playing football then, because he was so small. But his local youth team needed a quarterback.

“I’ll play it,” Malachi said.

It needed a defensive back, too.

“I’ll play it,” he said.

Mom didn’t try to hold him back. When that park closed and she needed a new one for her two sons, she found Washington Park for them. Malachi wasn’t sure he wanted to play there, but she knew this was a good place. Wasn’t finding good answers her role?

“My philosophy to him was, to be blunt, ‘Go take someone’s spot,’ ” Toni said. “I said, ‘Outwork him.’ That’s what he did, too.”

That’s what he’s always done. He’s the first to show up early for Hurricanes practices — even after his stellar freshman season for the 6 a.m. practices this spring.

“Watching my mom get up early for work — if she can do it, why can’t I?” Malachi told reporters when asked.

That brought tears from mom, a postal worker who starts each day at 5 a.m. She didn’t know he thought anything of her early hours until that comment. But her navigating his football youth in big and small ways is part of their story.

They have a word for the map she’s drawn up: The Blueprint. “Follow the blueprint,” she’ll tell him.

She had her role in that. It included mom not just being the organizing mother for youth teams but getting involve in the park. She became an official, overseeing the park’s meetings and representing it before the city commission.

The Blueprint included picking the right high school. She learned from the process of Malachi’s older brother, Monroe, who just joined the Hurricanes this winter as a defensive back.

“Monroe wanted to go to the high school of a coach he knew,” Toni said. “I let him play there. Then, the coach left and it wasn’t the same.”

Two years later, when Malachi was ready for high school, mom researched private schools, academics, coaches and football programs. Malachi attended Plantation American Heritage. But that wasn’t the only football conversation they had. He’d been a quarterback all his youth but now decided to play receiver.

“OK, let’s talk about it,” she said.

It came down to size. How tall did he need to be? Who was the tallest NFL quarterback? Malachi, now 5 foot 11, wasn’t the prototype quarterback but fit at receiver. His mother ran track in high school, but Malachi’s speed and athleticism came from his father, Antonio Brown, a receiver and return specialist who played in the Canadian Football League and three years in the NFL (the other Antonio Brown from Miami played for 12 NFL seasons with Pittsburgh, New England and Tampa Bay.)

Next came the decision to leave high school a year early, at 17.

“It just made sense to us,” mom said.

They discussed three ideas about college: Opportunity to play, exposure of his name and development. Miami checked all boxes. She gave him the same advice in sending him to college that she did at Washington Park: Go take someone’s job.

“I went to every practice that first (training camp),” she said. “Why? Because I needed to see what he’s doing with my own eyes. I don’t need to hear what anyone said. I needed to see because that’s my son and so I’ll go every day.

“I was in my car on my way to the last fall practice, and he texted me. ‘Congratulations, you have earned a starting position as slot receiver at the University of Miami.’ That was my last practice. I cried. I told him, ‘Congratulations, you keep your head down and keep the same work ethic.’ ”

They’ve kept the same mindset, too, in the NIL era. Toney’s agent, Justin Giangrande, helped organize the Washington Park clinic. They also had a turkey giveaway last Thanksgiving at the park.

“It takes a community,” Toni said. “And this park is part of our community.”

He’s 18. Just 18. The best part of that is the good story mom helped script is just starting.

May 8—MITCHELL — Tyson Johnson knows his way around the wrestling mat.

His career at Dakota Wesleyan University features many highlights, including a 2024 NAIA National Championship qualification, a 2024 GPAC All-Conference Honorable Mention, and a true-second place finish at the GPAC Championships. Competing primarily at 157 and 149 pounds, Johnson is known for his comeback ability and major decision wins in duals.

He enjoys the competition of the sport, and it has rewarded him in many ways over the years. But among the lessons wrestling has taught him is an unexpected one — the idea that his competitive outlet could be a path to a teaching career.

"A lot of it had to do with my coaches in high school, the impact that they made on me growing up into high school, making me a better person and knowing that those relationships are there and how powerful they are," Johnson told the Mitchell Republic. "And I wanted to be that for somebody else."

Johnson will soon have his chance to be that inspiration as he prepares to graduate this Sunday, May 10 at the Corn Palace, the last step on his way to becoming a teacher in his hometown of Pierre.

Johnson, who graduated in 2021 from T.F. Riggs High School in Pierre, grew up used to the rural South Dakota environment and its outdoor activity trappings. It was a close-knit community in every sense of the word, he said, with teachers, coaches and students all sharing a friendly familiarity.

As a wrestler, he gravitated toward a mentor, Dusty Paulsen, a volunteer with the program who had wrestled for Dakota Wesleyan University in his college days. He was curious if Johnson had ever thought about taking his wrestling to the college level.

"He kind of took me under my wing my freshman year that summer and we trained all throughout high school. He asked me if I'd ever want to wrestle in college. And he knew the coach (at DWU) and I told him that I'd probably be interested in doing it," Johnson said.

A college program like Dakota Wesleyan could help take his performance on the mat up a step, but it could also open the door to a future career. With his passion for wrestling, finding a coaching position made a lot of sense. That led him to selecting education as a major, a choice that would take him back to the classroom as a teacher with a chance at picking up some coaching work at the same time.

Dakota Wesleyan and its program fit the bill for what he needed in a college education.

"Between all my other options, it's pretty much either go to (South Dakota State University) and be a number or come wrestle at DWU and have those relationships with your professors," Johnson said.

He chose Mitchell and that connection with his professors, and he soon found himself on campus as a freshman. With coaching one of his end goals, he entered the education department at Dakota Wesleyan, beginning his studies while simultaneously competing for the school in wrestling.

It was a lot of work, but it was fulfilling. He responded well to the small class sizes at Dakota Wesleyan, noting they weren't that much bigger than his classes in high school in Pierre. That allowed him to capture one-on-one time with his instructors while also being able to concentrate on his technique with his coaches on the wrestling mat.

His interest in education became even stronger during his sophomore year, when he began working with Mindy Childs, an education professor at the school. It was then that his future in education began to come into deeper focus.

"She is very structured and has everything set forward, so ...you know exactly what you're getting every single day," Johnson said. "I probably wasn't the best student before that. But then I kind of had to lock in a little bit and really grew as a student."

It was around this time that he took Child's foundations of special education class, and something clicked. He had a close friend growing up that had suffered a traumatic brain injury in his youth, and he had been friendly with another student with special needs at his high school. He said he previously hadn't thought much about the kind of work that goes on in a special education classroom, but he was starting to see.

The class made him realize that special education could be a way to make the same impact on others that his teachers and coaches had been for him.

"I've got a lot of experience with this. Maybe this is for me," Johnson said.

He decided it was. He switched his major specifically to special education during his sophomore year. It was a bit of a late change — it would require him to take a fifth year — but the inspiration had struck. He ended up redshirting in wrestling during what would have been his senior year, allowing him to wrestle for a fifth year while pursuing his degree.

It all worked out in the end. After five years of academic studies and athletic practices, he is ready to complete graduation and head out for his first full-time professional teaching job.

He did his student teaching in the Mitchell School District, making stops at Mitchell High School, Mitchell Middle School and Longfellow Elementary. He also served on the district's substitute list as part of his studies. All of it contributed to his readiness to take up a position at the front of the classroom.

As graduation approached, he secured a teaching position in Miller and was ready to take his talents to that district. But again, a chance conversation with some of his former high school coaches alerted him to a position opening up in the Pierre district.

With family and old friends already there, and with his girlfriend, a Mitchell Technical College student who is set to work in Pierre as well, the chance to work in his old hometown seemed too good to pass up. There was even the possibility of joining the wrestling coaching staff in some capacity.

"Pierre is kind of a town that you don't really ever leave. Most graduates come back. It feels like home," Johnson said.

As Johnson gets ready to return to Pierre following Sunday's graduation, he has thought back on the lessons learned in Mitchell, particularly at Dakota Wesleyan. He looks back fondly at his time wrestling as a Tiger, and said his focus and dedication to the sport has revealed truths he never fully expected.

He learned to not become too involved in winning or losing during competitions. Self-improvement, discipline and performing the best you can under challenging circumstances are just as important as having your hand raised at the end of a match, he said.

His coaches brought him around to that way of thinking, he said.

"Definitely a very important lesson that I've taken is just kind of helping change the mindset that wrestling is this scary thing. It's a lot of pressure. But there's more to life than (just winning or losing in) wrestling. I didn't do it the best. (I've been) wrestling for 20-something years of my life, and it's kind of just always been that way. It's kind of a new thing that wrestling can be fun," Johnson said. "So (I would like) to be able to enact that in a youth program, a middle school program, and hopefully eventually the high school. I think it's probably one of the best lessons you could learn as a wrestler."

And he doesn't mince words when talking about the positive experience and thoughtful guidance he has received on the academic side. He feels Dakota Wesleyan wasn't just the best choice for him, it was the only choice.

"I couldn't say enough good things about it. They know you as a person, not just as a number or whatever else you want to call it. If I would have gone somewhere else, I probably would have honestly dropped out," Johnson said.

He's taking the supportive nature and the in-depth lessons of his coaches and professors at Dakota Wesleyan, pocketing them and preparing to draw on them in his new role as a special education teacher in Pierre. It's a nervous but exciting time for Johnson, but he's looking forward to sharing the lessons he's learned and passing them on to the next generation.

"In the grand scheme of things, school isn't to teach you how much you know about science or how much you know about math. It's to teach you to think critically. It's about seeing a problem in front of you and trying to figure out how to solve that problem," Johnson said. "You're going to see a lot of that in life."

Dakota Wesleyan University's graduation ceremony will take place Sunday, May 10 at the Corn Palace. The event is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. The event will also be livestreamed by DWU at

www.dwu.edu/live.