{"id":585110,"date":"2026-02-12T17:25:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T17:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/585110\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T17:25:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T17:25:15","slug":"kimballs-quintraylon-johnson-has-quickly-become-one-of-the-best-wrestlers-in-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/585110\/","title":{"rendered":"Kimball\u2019s Quintraylon Johnson has quickly become one of the best wrestlers in Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the mindset of Quintraylon Johnson, a wrestling match begins way before he sets foot on a mat. For example, in last Saturday\u2019s Class 5A Region II meet at the Ellis Davis Field House, it started around 45 minutes before his championship match.<\/p>\n

While still in warmups, Johnson takes 10 steps, turns around on a dime, then takes 10 steps back to where he started, continually repeating this routine. The Kimball senior only takes brief stops to take off his warmup sweater and put on his headgear. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have got to keep my feet moving. It\u2019s just what I do. It makes me feel comfortable and good before the match,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI picked this up watching videos of (former U.S. Olympic gold medalist) Jordan Burroughs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/p>\n

Dallas Kimball wrestler Quintraylon Johnson exhibits a determined focus prior to his match in the finals of the 175 lb. weight class 5A Region ll meet held at Ellis Davis Field House, 9191 S. Polk Street in Dallas on February 7, 2026. <\/p>\n

Steve Hamm<\/p>\n

Johnson has picked up similar information in the past 3\u00bd years and it made him one of the best high school wrestlers in the state of Texas. Quickly.<\/p>\n

Johnson is 36-1 this season, wrestling in the 175-pound weight class, finishing second at the 5A-II meet<\/a> to qualify for the UIL State Wrestling Championships, which begin at 8:30 a.m. Friday at the Berry Center in Cypress, near Houston.<\/p>\n

This is Johnson\u2019s third time to qualify for state and coming off placing third in the Class 5A 165-pound division in 2025. Johnson\u2019s younger brother, Jumario Abston, has also qualified at 120 pounds. The championship round is scheduled to begin at 4:45 p.m. Saturday at the Berry Center.<\/p>\n

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Johnson has accomplished a lot considering he didn\u2019t compete in the sport until he was a freshman at Kimball while many of his competitors have been wrestling since early in grade school. Right now however, Johnson is not in a reflective mood on his accomplishments. <\/p>\n

\u201cI know the job is not finished. I know I have to keep going and keep wrestling,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI haven\u2019t won anything big yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before Johnson enrolled at Kimball he had no interest in wrestling at all. Not even the entertainment-heavy professional variety.<\/p>\n

Johnson said when he was a freshman his favorite sport was football. He would go on to have a solid gridiron career for the Knights at defensive end and linebacker, overcoming what would appear to be a height disadvantage. Johnson, who is 5-foot-7, had 67 tackles, seven for loss, with 38 quarterback hurries and three sacks as Kimball went 7-4 and made the playoffs this past fall. <\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/p>\n

Dallas Kimball wrestler Quintraylon Johnson, right, plans his strategy against Frisco Reedy wrestler Leo Ashurov as the two competed in the finals of the 175 lb. weight class 5A Region ll meet held at Ellis Davis Field House, 9191 S. Polk Street in Dallas on February 7, 2026. <\/p>\n

Steve Hamm<\/p>\n

Back when Johnson was a freshman, Kimball wrestling coach Devin \u201cBuck\u201d Fortson saw something in Johnson that made him feel he would be a good wrestler.<\/p>\n

Fortson is a former wrestling and football standout at Kimball. He was a college wrestler at Richland College (now Dallas College Richland) and played college football at West Texas State and the defunct program at Ranger Junior College. Fortson has been Kimball\u2019s head wrestling coach since the program was revived in 1997, one year before wrestling became a UIL sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see me in him. I\u2019m a football loving person who loves wrestling too, except a little heavier,\u201d Fortson said. \u201cI thought he could be that same person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson said he decided to pick up wrestling because in the Kimball football program, varsity players have to compete in another sport.<\/p>\n

Johnson turned out to be a near-perfect fit for wrestling. In his first competition as a freshman, a junior-varsity tournament on Nov. 18, 2022 at Northwest Eaton, Johnson won his weight class. He would be promoted to varsity midway through his freshman season.<\/p>\n

Johnson said the work he was putting in was starting to show for him as a sophomore, when he qualified for state and went 1-2 in the tournament. He added that he now watches professional wrestling and will put in elements of that style when he can.<\/p>\n

Since his sophomore year, he said the best part of wrestling is simply winning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best feeling is getting your hand raised at the end of a match,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

Johnson\u2019s success led to him being a part of Team Texas at the USMC 16-and-under Junior Nationals in July in Fargo, N.D., which led him to be part of a viral video.<\/p>\n

Johnson went 2-2 in the tournament, but the highlight was during a match against Nicholas Hernandez of California that Johnson eventually won 19-16. At the end of the second period and from a standing position, Johnson leaped over Hernandez\u2019s head and locked his arms around Hernandez\u2019s waist on the way down for a takedown. It\u2019s a maneuver called the flying squirrel and while it\u2019s illegal in folkstyle wrestling in high school and college, it can be used in freestyle Olympic competition that could be in Johnson\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw the video on TikTok. I got hops,\u201d said Johnson with a laugh.<\/p>\n

Johnson does enter this year\u2019s state competition on the heels of a rare loss. The 5A-II 175-pound final was a battle of the undefeated against Frisco Reedy\u2019s Leo Ashurov. Johnson beat Ashurov twice in the 2025 postseason, but on Saturday, Ashurov got an early takedown and used strong defensive tactics for a 4-2 win.<\/p>\n

Johnson said he wrestled too much of Ashurov\u2019s game and not enough of his own. Johnson\u2019s first-round match at state on Friday will be against Mission Sharyland\u2019s Valeriano Elizondo (6-2) while Ashurov (20-0) will open against Corpus Christi Carroll\u2019s Koby Soliz (28-4).<\/p>\n

Fortson said how Johnson reacted to Saturday\u2019s loss reminds him of what happened to former Kimball girls standout Destiny Miles in 2020. Miles lost a region final that year, Frisco Liberty\u2019s Princess Egbuchunam, but regrouped at state and won a rematch in the 165-pound state championship match by pin in 1 minute and 17 seconds to repeat as a state champion, the first Dallas ISD wrestler of any gender to win two state titles.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter Destiny lost she said, \u2018I got this. I\u2019m getting my hand raised again. I\u2019m going to win this for my neighborhood,\u2019\u201d Fortson said. \u201cWhat\u2019s happening with Quintraylon is very similar.\u201d<\/p>\n

After high school, Johnson could be heading to big-time college wrestling. Johnson said he has received offers from Nebraska and Oklahoma State. However, Fortson said, because of the influence of name, image and likeness (NIL) it has become more difficult for high school wrestlers to earn college scholarships, adding that NCAA programs would rather recruit transfers from junior colleges and NAIA programs.<\/p>\n

Fortson said Johnson is smart and should do fine in college when it comes to academics. Johnson said wrestling is a major reason for the way his life is going now and life without the sport could have been different and worse.<\/p>\n

\u201cI ain\u2019t going to lie. I\u2019m in a bad neighborhood,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWithout wrestling, it would have taken me down the wrong path. I probably would have dropped out of school, smoked weed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson has extra motivation to excel this weekend, and in the future, with wrestling because of his mother, Latrisha. Fortson said he has felt responsible to help the Johnson family out as Latrisha has raised Quintraylon as a single parent.<\/p>\n

Latrisha was not able to attend the 5A-II meet because of an illness. Quintraylon said this illness makes it unlikely his mother will be able to attend the state championships as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I have to do it for her and bring the gold medal back for her,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cShe said she\u2019s proud of me and wants me to keep going with wrestling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/p>\n

Dallas Kimball wrestler Quintraylon Johnson circles the mat prior to the start of his match against Frisco Reedy wrestler Leo Ashurov as the two competed in the finals of the 175 lb. weight class 5A Region ll meet held at Ellis Davis Field House, 9191 S. Polk Street in Dallas on February 7, 2026. <\/p>\n

Steve Hamm<\/p>\n

Find more high school sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Sign up for our FREE HS newsletter.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the mindset of Quintraylon Johnson, a wrestling match begins way before he sets foot on a 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