St. John's Freshman brings home championship

Last March, St. John’s TJ Stewart ‘22 competed in the NHSCA High School Nationals in Virginia Beach for wrestling, winning first place in his division. This was a huge win for Stewart, as he said, “The top freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors go out there to compete, and I won for the freshmen division.”

This was an enormous accomplishment for Stewart, who has been working hard to compete at such a high level. “I started wrestling in 7th grade, so for about three years,” he said. “And I’ve been wrestling during off season for around two years now.”

Stewart displayed a competitive, yet humble, attitude throughout the tournament. He credits that attitude as factors that help him be the best. “The funny thing is that my teammates texted me saying, ‘you didn’t do no celebration or anything!’ because I just got my hand raised and walked off the mat like it was nothing. I felt like I needed to win and I was happy about it, but I didn’t show it. I guess I really just came to compete, so after I won there was no need to show it off,” Stewart said.

The SJC Wrestling team is extremely proud of TJ. Coach Karl Danso gave some insight into what has made him so successful: “TJ is a really special kid. I think his determination is one of the things that sets him apart. He has decided he wants to be great and he’s not going to let anything get in his way,” Danso said.

In terms of his future high school wrestling career, he said, “I want to go undefeated in the next three years of my high school career, so that’s what I am looking forward to.” Stewart’s confidence on the mat is sure to take him far as a high school wrestler.