Sophomore Kash Johnson helped the Ankeny wrestling team to a 12th-place finish in the Class 3A state tournament last week at Wells Fargo Arena. The Hawks scored a total of 80.5 points.
Johnson was one of four placewinners for the squad, earning an eighth-place finish at 150 pounds. He finished the season with a 26-19 record.
Here is some inside info on Johnson:
Congratulations on becoming a placewinner as a No. 11 seed. How much confidence did you have going into the tournament that you could earn a spot on the awards podium?
Going into the tournament I was pretty nervous because I was not sure what to expect, but I still had confidence because I made sure to just think about it as one match at a time.
You recorded a fall over Waukee’s Kayden Crispin in 1 minute 14 seconds in your opening match on Wednesday. Since this was your first trip to state, were you pretty nervous before that match?
Before my first match I wasn’t too nervous because me and Kayden had many common opponents so I knew that I was the better wrestler, and it would work out. I tried to think of it as being just like any other match.
You then lost in the second round by a technical fall to Elijah Blewitt of Indianola, who had defeated you in the district final on Feb. 15. You eventually lost to Blewitt again in a fifth-round consolation match on Friday. What makes him so tough, or is there something about his style that makes him a difficult matchup for you?
Blewitt is just a good wrestler who is solid in all three positions.
You rebounded from Wednesday’s loss with three consecutive falls–all of them in the first period–to become a placewinner. Are you always looking for a way to get a pin in every match?
I guess I’m always looking to get a pin every match because it’s the fastest way to win, and also it keeps me off the mat so I can rest for future ones.
You had one of the fastest falls in the tournament in Friday’s blood round, when you pinned second-seeded Logan Trenary of Southeast Polk in just 10 seconds. How surprised were you that you were able to do that?
Before the state tournament I wouldn’t have believed that I could win against a top-ranked opponent, much less that I would have pinned him in 10 seconds. So, I was very surprised that I was able to do it.
Your dad, Matt, is an assistant coach for the team, and he was so excited by your win that he fell and injured his ankle. How is he doing now?
His ankle is looking pretty bad; it’s very swollen and black and blue. We are still waiting on the x-rays.
Overall, what did you think of your team’s performance in the tournament?
The team did great overall, especially my teammates like Eddie Salgado and AJ Rouh who despite being seeded low, defied the odds and even made it to the blood round.
Two of your teammates, Ben Walsh at 113 and Truman Folkers at 126, lost to wrestlers from Southeast Polk in Friday’s semifinals. Did that make your win over Trenary a little bit sweeter?
Ben and Truman losing to their SEP kids didn’t really make my win sweeter because I really wanted to see them win, and I know how much they wanted to win also.
The No. 1 seed in your bracket, Jabari Hinson of Ames, was upset in the finals–dropping a 9-7 decision to No. 3 Justin Avila of Iowa City West for his first loss of the season. Did you think Avila had much of a chance to beat Hinson?
Even though both of them are in my weight class, I haven’t seen much of either of them wrestling. However, from what I had heard, I was expecting Hinson to win.
Most of your team’s state qualifiers will be back next year. Do you think you can be a top-10 squad in 2026?
I think next year we will be a top-10 team for sure. Although we will lose more seniors than last year, those returning will have another year of experience under their belt and other people will step up to fill the missing spots in the roster. I think it’s very possible that we could be better than we were this year.