By Gaby Moran
Staff Writer

With the size of Coppell High School’s student population, this only allows most students to do well in just one sport. However, there are always a handful of students that can shine in a couple of sports each year, but only a very few that can shine enough to get college scholarship offers in more than one.

 Senior Teddy Johnson, mainly known for his incredible football talent, which earned him a spot on the Oklahoma State University football team, also picked up a new sport this year and performed very well.

Usually, athletes work hard for four years to reach state, with one exception. This year, Johnson joined a sport he had never competed in before his senior year and medaled at the state competition six weeks later.

“Wrestling was a completely new experience for me and even though it was for a short time, it was very interesting,” Johnson said. 

Johnson is best known for his incredible tackles as one of Coppell’s top inside linebackers and made first team all-district this 2009 season. No one ever wanted to be Johnson’s victim on the field.

 After the football season ended, all senior players were obliged to sign up for another class for the spring semester unless they wanted to participate in the offseason program with the returning players. So, as Johnson thought about what to do, fellow senior, friend and wrestler Hampton Roese convinced him to sign up for wrestling.

 “Due to unfortunate events that lead to an opening in the 215 weight class, Roese said. “I knew teddy and how strong and athletic he was so I challenged him to try the hardest sport CHS has to offer and see how he does. As it turned out, he was pretty good and I’m proud of him to accomplish what he did with what little time he had.”

Although Johnson did not know a thing about wrestling, he accepted Roese’s challenge and wrestling coach Chip Lowery believed Johnson had the potential to do well in wrestling with his physical attributes.

“When Teddy came up to me, I put him on the team just to see how he would do,” Lowery said. “Needless to say, he exceeded our expectations.”

 For the next six weeks, Johnson trained hard with the CHS team and at many competitions, did very well for a beginner. Johnson was the definite “Cinderella” in most tournaments, proving himself a threat by placing in the top three.

“At every tournament, I was always considered the underdog and that just made me strive harder to win and do well,” Johnson said.

Johnson got first place in the district competition and third place in the regional competition in the 215 weight class. After doing so well in both competitions, Johnson was ready for state.

“After this great season, I wished I started wrestling earlier in high school, but I’m still glad that I at least got to experience it once,” Johnson said.

At state, Johnson advanced to the semifinals, where he lost to Cody Davis from The Woodlands, who went on to win the state championship.

After the loss, Johnson won his next two matches and earned third place. Johnson was one of three Coppell students, including seniors Duncan Dominguez and Trevor Ward, who brought home a medal in boys wrestling.

“He was a UIL state placer in about six weeks,” Lowery said. “I have never seen anything like it.”

Johnson beat many wrestlers who are going to wrestle in college. Many colleges started to ask about him, but Johnson elected to attend Oklahoma State University and not wrestle in college.

“As colleges started asking me about Teddy, they all thought I was lying when I said he had only wrestled for about six weeks,” Lowery said.

While Johnson mainly chose OSU because both his parents are alumni, he has recently been given a spot on the OSU football roster.

For most Division I colleges, the football coaches start recruiting players during their junior year, and the verbal commitments are often completed before their senior year. This process is the norm except with the Class of 2010 from Coppell High School.

With changes occurring within the CHS football program last year, with Coach Bob Shipley leaving for Brownwood and Coach Joe McBride being hired towards the end of the school year, the current seniors were left in the dark when it came to a head coach helping get their names out into the collegiate world.

 As the new head coach, McBride worked hard to help seniors get scholarship offers. Although Johnson had many offers, he had always known he wanted to go to OSU no matter what.

 “Johnson is a tremendous athlete,” McBride said. “He has all the tools and is still nowhere close to reaching his potential. I knew I had to find a way to get OSU to look at him, even this late.”

McBride started sending Johnson’s video, statistics, grades, and other records to OSU to see if there was a chance to get Johnson a walk-on spot on the team.

“As I kept talking to [OSU], I told them they would not find another freshman linebacker as good as him,” McBride said.

After two months talking to OSU coaches, Johnson was put on the 2010 OSU football roster.

“I have always been a Cowboys fan and knew I would go there no matter what,” Johnson said. “But now, with a spot on the team I couldn’t be happier.”

As of now, there are no exact terms to what Johnson will do next year but he will most likely be redshirted. His goals for next year are to establish and try to be part of the team in a positive way.

If Johnson is able to show any of the talent, hard work and dedication he has shown at CHS, he should surely make a statement at OSU.