Meet Johnston wrestling's Braden Blackorby, a Virginia commit who has made Iowa his home

Five years ago, a new kid named Braden Blackorby arrived in Johnston and started playing for the Dragons' seventh-grade football team.

The newcomer immediately turned heads on the roster and coaching staff alike with his skills on the gridiron. Even then, however, it was evident that this kid was a wrestler at heart. A member of the coaching staff reached out to Johnston's boys wrestling coach, Aaron Tecklenburg, letting him know he needed to get out to practice to see the new guy in action.

Right then and there, Tecklenburg saw a star in the making.

"Seeing what kind of competitor he was on the football field, that just got us excited to get him in the wrestling room," Tecklenburg said.

That kid has grown up to be a 175-pound senior, a state finalist last season who racked up a 36-4 record and 29 pins. That performance earned him a spot on the University of Virginia's wrestling team for next season.

Here is how Blackorby has become one of the state's best wrestlers in a short time.

'He's a team guy first.'

Blackorby moved to Iowa when his father took a new job. It wasn't anything new for him, living in Georgia and Virginia prior to settling down in Johnston for his seventh-grade year.

Now Iowa is the place he calls home. He's settled his roots in Johnston, with this being the longest he has stayed in one place. He and the members of the Johnston coaching staff are thankful that this ended up being his home. He loves the culture of Iowa, and Johnston not only gained an excellent athlete but also a top-flight team wrestler.

Last season, Blackorby and then-sophomore Jacob Helgeson wrestled off at 152 pounds. Helgeson beat Blackorby to secure the spot. Even though Blackorby was already a bigger guy who usually hung around a heavier weight than even 152 pounds at times, he made a massive sacrifice to cut down to 145 pounds since it was best for his team's outlook for the season.

It paid off in a huge way, with Helgeson going on to win the 152-pound state title and Blackorby taking second at 145. Johnston finished eighth in the Class 3A team standings.

"To me, that told me everything I needed to know about Braden Blackorby," Tecklenburg said. "He's a team guy first. It was important for him to help us be better."

Blackorby ultimately didn't reach his goal of becoming a state champion, falling to Waverly-Shell Rock's then-sophomore Bas Diaz (3-1 decision). He said he learned a lot from that moment; he felt he froze when the chance arrived to reach his ultimate goal.

"I kind of shut down, I let the moment get to me," Blackorby said. "I shut down my offense in the finals, but this year I'm looking to make a statement in the finals."

Blackorby went back to work in an effort to make that statement. Despite having offseason surgery to repair his thumb, he got after it in the weight room to work on his body.

"That's what I love about him, he doesn't dwell on losses," Tecklenburg said. "He doesn't dwell on the negative. He just figures out how to get better and grow. Kids need to see that, they need to see someone who doesn't feel sorry for themselves, but someone who is going to pick themselves up when things aren't going well."

Now Blackorby is at a much more comfortable weight. Still, it's been an adjustment for the senior, who said the bouts have become much slower in the neutral position, and wrestling from top or bottom from a leverage standpoint is much different than before. However, much is still the same for Blackorby, who loves to pin an opponent when he has the chance.

Nabbing 29 wins by fall last year despite being injured for a good portion of the season, he's seeking the school record of 33 pins in a season this time around. So far, the weight change hasn't seemed to change much, with him pinning five opponents already in his senior season.

That skill helped him earn a chance to wrestle for Virginia, officially signing on the dotted line in November. After his wrestling career is done, he wants to be a CFO after studying business and earning a master's degree in business administration. Virginia's academics and coaching staff made the Cavaliers an ideal landing spot.

Until then, Blackorby has two things he needs to check off before he leaves Johnston: the pin school record and that elusive state championship.

"That's been my goal since I started wrestling," Blackorby said. "I always looked up to the state champs. To be able to put my name on the board as a state champ, that would mean everything."

Full results from Johnston's narrow win over Ankeny

What a dual this turned out to be Thursday night in Johnston.

The Dragons were the favorites coming in, with Blackorby and Helgeson leading the lineup. As the coach of Johnston for 17 years now, Tecklenburg knew this one was going to be a dog fight.

After Johnston's 120-pound freshman Isaiah Madison sneaked out a 4-3 decision over Ankeny freshman Aiden Winkie to take a 33-12 lead with five bouts remaining, the Hawks roared back to tie the match at 33 apiece with three pins (Truman Folkers, Perez Perez and Ben Hansen) and a 6-4 sudden victory from Harrison Folkers.

The 150-pound match would decide the dual from there. Johnston sophomore Caden Leonard and Ankeny freshman Cash Johnson squared off to decide a winner. In 1:26, Leonard pinned Johnson as the Johnston faithful erupted in their home gym for a 39-33 win.

"They're competitive, they're very well coached and they're gonna fight you every single match," Tecklenburg said of Ankeny. "We feel fortunate to get out of there with a win. We know we got a lot of work to do."

In total, 10 matches were won by fall in this dual, five by each team. To secure a win, the Dragons won eight of the 14 bouts to edge the Hawks. Here are the match-by-match results of the night:

• 106 pounds - Ankeny's Ben Walsh over Johnston's Ike Bierman, fall (1:05)

• 113 pounds - Johnston's Ethan Huebbe over Ankeny's Vaughn Houston, fall (3:15)

• 120 pounds - Johnston's Isaiah Madison over Ankeny's Aiden Winkie, 4-3 decision

• 126 pounds - Ankeny's Truman Folkers over Johnston's Shandrel Thompson, fall (1:21)

• 132 pounds - Ankeny's Perez Perez over Johnston's Owen Gilbert, fall (3:37)

• 138 pounds - Ankeny's Harrison Folkers over Johnston's Will Pederson, 6-4 sudden victory

• 144 pounds - Ankeny's Ben Hansen over Johnston's Carson Cornwell, fall (0:55)

• 150 pounds - Johnston's Caden Leonard over Ankeny's Kash Johnson, fall (1:26)

• 157 pounds - Ankeny's Teagan Peiffer over Johnston's Carson Brown, fall (2:27)

• 165 pounds - Johnston's Jacob Helgeson over Ankeny's Jacob Schlee, fall (2:30)

• 175 pounds - Johnston's Braden Blackorby over Ankeny's Ryleigh Egeberg, fall (0:42)

• 190 pounds - Johnston's Kolby Gibbons over Ankeny's Karsten Bernholtz, fall (3:41)

• 215 pounds - Johnston's Mason Roethler over Ankeny's Andrew Haase, 4-1 decision

• 285 pounds - Johnston's Nick Darling over Ankeny's Jack Dorfler, 1-0 decision

• Final score - Johnston 39, Ankeny 33

Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Johnston wrestler Braden Blackorby is the ultimate team player