Steve Johnston steps down as South Plainfield wrestling coach
· Yahoo Sports
NOTE: This article will be updated with quotes from Steve Johnston later today. Please check back.
Steve Johnston is just one of those guys who oozes pride for his hometown. He wrestled at South Plainfield High School, was a longtime assistant and has been the Tigers head coach the last eight seasons.
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However, he said on Friday, June 26, he’ll be stepping down as the program’s head coach after being approved to become assistant principal at Parsippany Hills High School.
Johnston had a 117-49 record in eight seasons as the Tigers’ skipper. He had spent the previous 10 seasons as an assistant under head coaches Kevin McCann and then Bill Pavlak.
He coached three state champions. Eva Altamirano won the 126-pound title in 2024 to become the first girl South Plainfield state champion in program history. He also guided Anthony White (145 in 2021) and Zach DelVecchio (220 in 2019) to state gold medals.
Under Johnston, the Tigers won Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament titles in 2019 and 2022 and four straight sectional titles in 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023 (there was no tournament in 2021 because of the Covid-shortened spring season). The team earned the program’s 800th win in 2022.
“It’s a family affair,” Johnston said at the time, “whether your father wrestled. Your grandfather wrestled, whether your uncle wrestled. You see a lot of the familiar names and that’s why we’re successful because they live it. A lot of people say you’re born into it in South Plainfield and I guess you’re kind are, but it’s something that they want to do and the kids have fun with it. They enjoy it and that’s what it boils down to.”
South Plainfield had a rare down year in 2023-24 with a 7-13 record with several first-year varsity wrestlers. They bounced back to go 15-6 in 2024-25, reaching a sectional final, and 17-11 last season.
The South Plainfield job should be a highly coveted position. The Tigers finished as the No. 1 team in the state in 2010, 2012 and 2013 with a powerhouse lineup led by four-time state champion Anthony Ashnault, now an assistant at Rutgers.
Johnston was an assistant on those teams and knows a little bit about the program lore. He grew up wrestling in the town’s rec and middle school teams. In high school, Johnston was a Home News Tribune All-Area selection his senior season in 2002-03 after qualifying for the state tournament and wrestled at York College.
“Wrestling through the rec program, middle school and the high school program back when I was younger really shaped me into the person I became,” Johnston said after getting hired in October 2018.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Steve Johnston steps down as South Plainfield wrestling coach