Hi-Line Athlete Profile: Kaitlyn Johnson, Harlem wrestling

Sports are often a family affair, and for Harlem wrestler Kaitlyn Johnson, that is no different. Following in the footsteps of her father and brother, Johnson had big shoes to fill. But with their guidance, she learned to push through the adversity early in her career and become a successful wrestler for the Wildcats.

"They taught me to stick with it," Johnson said. "(They said) junior year it'll start clicking. And this year, I realized what they were saying was true."

Johnson would do well to listen to the advice of her father and brother as they both had success wrestling for the Wildcats. Her father, Russ Johnson, set the Harlem record for 28 pins in a season and was one of the top wrestlers in the state in the late 1980s. Her uncle, Andy Johnson, also had success as he was a state placer for the Wildcats back in the day.

Growing up, Kaitlyn Johnson got to watch her older brother, Brenden Johnson, wrestle for the Wildcats. Brenden was a two-time state runner up and even broke his father's record with 29 pins in a single season for the Wildcats.

In her junior year this season, Kaitlyn Johnson has done her family proud. She already has 24 pins this season, putting her four away from her father's record and five from her brother. If she can get six pins in this upcoming postseason, she would secure the record as well as family bragging rights.

"I would feel like I lived up to the Johnson name," she said about possibly breaking the record. "And if I beat my brother's record, I could laugh at him, too."

She already has the pin record for Harlem girls wrestling this season and has a record of 24-6. She has done well in several tournaments this season with a first-place finish at Glasgow, second-place finishes at Cascade, Cut Bank and Choteau and a sixth-place finish at CMR. This season, Johnson believes she has found her rhythm both as a wrestler and as a leader on the team.

"I don't really think about it. It's all just kind of natural now," Johnson said. "(I've also enjoyed) helping the younger wrestlers coming in this year and seeing our team having a lot more girls this year."

Over the course of her high school wrestling career, Johnson has gotten to witness first hand the growth of high school girls wrestling in the state of Montana. In her freshman year, Harlem only competed in one girls tournament during the first season before competing in the first girls wrestling state tournament in Montana.

But she saw the sport get bigger during her sophomore season and now in her junior season, at least six girls wrestlers for Harlem will compete in the first Eastern B-C girls wrestling tournament in Montana.

"I'm glad to see girls wrestling come this far," Johnson said. "I think it's becoming a pretty successful sport in terms of growing in size and it becoming a more common thing."

The postseason will begin for Johnson and many other high school wrestlers across the Hi-Line this Saturday. At the Eastern B-C Divisionals this weekend in Columbus, wrestlers from Big Sandy, Chester-Joplin-Inverness, Fort Benton and Harlem will compete for spots in the state tournament the following weekend in Billings.

Before Johnson and the Harlem Wildcats begin the postseason this weekend, the Havre Daily News asked her five questions.

HDN: What do you look forward to about this upcoming postseason?

Johnson: "I'm excited to see how the first girls divisionals goes. Not all girls go to state anymore, now we actually have divisionals so I'm excited to see how that plays out and how we can place as a team."

HDN: Who do you credit your success to?

Johnson: "My teammates and my coaches. There's not really many wrestlers close around my weight class but all of them make sure to jump in and practice with me. We just push each other every day and we will always have fun while doing that."

HDN: When did you first start wrestling?

Johnson: "I tried basketball in seventh grade but I didn't really like that so in eighth grade, I decided to start wrestling and then I stuck with it ever since."

HDN: What is the hardest part about the sport?

Johnson: "The practices and cutting weight. Also, it's a very mental sport."

HDN: What are your plans for after high school?

Johnson: "I plan to go to Montana Tech in Butte after I graduate. I expect to do something in the medical field."