CARY — The wrestling tradition at Cary High School is powerful, thanks in part to 130-pound senior David Johnson.

Jerry Winterton, the school's wrestling coach, says Johnson will seek out the best wrestler on the other team and go against him.

"His whole concept is to back the kid up, and tire him out," he says. "In the third period, if it is a close match, he feels with all of the work he has done yearround, day in and day out, he will prevail."

Basketball coach Allan Gustafson says he had not run across another athlete at Cary High School who has been as dedicated and committed as Johnson.

"The thing that strikes me the most about David is the number of hours that he puts into wrestling. It is absolutely phenomenal," he says.

"I love wrestling. If I had a choice of where to be on Saturday night, it would be a wrestling tournament because it is so much fun," Johnson says.

Winterton says Johnson will wrestle all sizes and all people.

"When a wrestler gets tired of wrestling David, David is not going to stop wrestling," he says. "He will find a coach to wrestle or the next kid to wrestle. He is one of a kind."

David Johnson is this week's winner of the Extra Effort Award. Tom Suiter's Extra Effort award airs Wednesdays during WRAL's 6:00 News.

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